The King
by seraph orion black
Summary: Harry Potter was executed thirty five years ago in a case of brutal multiple murders. No one knows why. But Alexander Potter, the boy-who-lived, knows something the others don't and he's finally decided to talk about it
1. Kill me NOW

**THE KING**

**By**

_**Seraph Orion Black**_

**Disclaimer: ** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Though, I might have copied this disclaimer from someone. I AM SORRY FOR THAT.

**Warning:** Semi-canon compliant. Harry Potter is NOT the boy-who-lived, his younger brother Alexander Potter is. Harry's parents are alive and he has siblings. Also, Harry was born in 1976. That makes him four years older than canon.

Everything that happened to Harry in the canon, the philosopher's stone, the basilisk - everything happens to Alex. Alex will be the representation of the canon Harry Potter with the saving people thing and an all-around angsty, brooding personality. Harry in this story will be different from the original series and most of the fanfic out there. He won't be angsty, clueless or lovey-dovey. He will be powerful magically – a prodigy, but none of those gaining insane powers and intelligence overnight nor rituals that only he can find in Flourish and Blotts. Harry will be smart right from the start. BUT Alex Potter is the boy-who-lived and WILL be the defeater of Voldemort.

The story will have similarities with the original story up until the end of Order of the Phoenix. It will start deviating from the original from the Half-Blood Prince onwards.

**Warnings: **Mild bashing of possibly every character in the story, including Harry himself. Rated M for harsh language, violence and implied sex.

Harry's story is completely different from canon simply because he is four years older. So no best friends with Ron and Hermione, no soul-bonding or whatever with Ginny Weasley.

**Just in case:**

On the first of September, 1991,

_Harry Potter – 15 years old_

_Alex Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger - 11 years old_

_Rosalyn and Evelyn Potter - 10years old_

_Andrew Potter - 8 years old_

_Cassandra Potter – 2 1/2 years old_

_Nymphadora Tonks - 17 years old_

_Fleur Delacour- 14 years old_

**Chapter 1**

**17****th**** September 2008**

The crowd – most of them members of the Order of the Phoenix – in the chamber stopped their hushed conversation and looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. The chamber they were seated in was one of the old unused court-rooms that were opened only on some very special occasions, like today. The main reason the room was being opened was that it was the farthest from the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic and consequently escape.

Four aurors filed in to the room and took flanking positions at the entrance of the room with their wands drawn and ready to fire curses at a moment's notice. Some people absently noticed that the aurors were at full alert even though there was supposed to be absolutely no means of escape for the prisoner.

The first indication was that the temperature in the room started to drop making people draw their cloaks and shawls tighter around themselves. Then bad memories surfaced in the minds of the gathered, mostly from the recently ended war, meaning only one thing – Dementors. Anyone with the capability started strengthening their occlumency shields to ward off the effect of those foul beasts but only a couple were successful doing so. Several people could be seen whimpering as bad memories started assaulting their conscious minds again and again. Memories of death, pain and torture – courtesy of living through a war with Voldemort played over and over again. Soon enough, two dementors glided into the chamber with the prisoner in between them. Gasps rose among the crowd as they saw the prisoner - for some it was the first time they were seeing him in nearly a decade.

Instead of the broken, whimpering bag of flesh and bones that they were expecting, the prisoner stood tall and regal, looking around him with a slight sneer on his handsome face. He was wearing the same dirty rags he was provided in Azkaban which looked frayed and barely covered his huge frame. His hair was a mess as ever and he had a short scruffy beard making his appearance look ragged. Standing proudly at six foot four inches and weighing at nearly two hundred pounds, he cut a very impressive figure for a person who had spent more than a month in Azkaban. He had lost a bit of weight in his time in Azkaban but even then the crowd could see the rippling muscles in his arms and chest while he moved with the grace of a warrior. He was shackled around both the wrists and ankles and chained to the dementors. There were also silver armbands with runes glowing an eerie black around both his wrists meaning his magic was bound.

His emerald green eyes, the ones he shared with his mother and siblings scanned everyone in the room as if he was judging everyone in the room. More than a few people amongst the crowd flinched as they felt the icy glare pass right through them. One thing was clear - though he was the one standing right in between them, Harry James Potter was one of the very few that was not visibly affected by the dementors.

Despite being shackled physically and magically and with a couple of dementors at his side to boot, no one could deny the imposing personality of the man in front of them and some of them couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down their spine as they remembered his crimes.

The dementors led him to the centre of the room where he was shackled to a chair. Harry didn't say anything as he sat in the chair with as much grace as a king sitting in his throne. The dementors seemed to linger around, unsure of what to do next. Harry's glance swept over the spectators for a final time before resting on the dementors. His features formed a small frown before he hissed, "What are you pieces of filth still doing here?" As the dementors still seemed to want to linger, his features melted into a furious glare as he bellowed, **"BEGONE!" **

Everyone in the chamber jumped at the force behind the voice and the aurors raised their wands before realising that the prisoner was still restrained and could do nothing to harm anyone even if he wanted to. Much to the amazement and surprise of the spectators, and horror of the aurors, the dementors turned and fled the room as fast as possible.

Harry's cold green eyes scanned the crowd one more time before he spoke out, "What do we have here?" he sneered, "Come to tell me how big a disappointment I am to everyone? How I deserve to burn in hell for condemning the good name of the Potters in the Wizarding world?" His eyes scanned over everyone as if daring them to reply. The spectators looked at each other unsure of how to respond to his question. His family had come today to find some solace with him that they hadn't been able to do in a long time. But they didn't expect such venom in his voice as he addressed them. His eyes finally settled on his parents who were crying silently in a corner of the room looking at him with a desperate hope and he asked, "Or are you all **that** interested in seeing me die? Wanted to proclaim to the world that you helped put down the murderer Harold James Potter?"

Lily broke down completely, sobbing hysterically and slumped to the floor. James, on the other hand, looked like a ghost - pale and shaking, unable to form a response. After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd broke into a cacophony of yells and shrieks of indignations as few people started shouting obscenities at him. After a minute or two, Harry couldn't take it anymore and he yelled, **"SILENCE!"**

As if by magic, the entire gallery fell silent, fully aware of what the prisoner was capable of. They were aware, of course, of the brutality and ingenuinity of his actions. He turned his head to the aurors flanking the door and called out, "Call the dementors back, you imbeciles. I am done here. I do not wish to see anyone anymore. **NOW**"

One of the newbie aurors nodded dumbly and ran out of the room to fetch the dementors not even realising that he was taking orders from a prisoner.

"Harry", a tentative voice called from the crowd.

Harry's eyes scanned the crowd taking in all of them who were present. It was a motley mixture of the young and the old - aurors, healers, teachers and civilians. His attention however went to the Potters, Lupins, and the Weasleys seated at front. His glare landed on the one who had addressed him. Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin was sitting next to her husband holding his hand looking at her former best friend.

The auror's usual bubblegum pink hair was gone. She had dull brown hair that seemed to reflect her mood. She was looking at him with regret, sadness tinged with a bit of hope.

Seeing that she had his attention, the woman who still only answered to Tonks said, "The Wizengamot has declared a verdict on your case, Harry. You are sentenced for execution."

The crowd held their breaths as they waited for Harry to respond. However, he seemed to take no notice that he had heard her. Instead he chose to glare at everyone who dared meet his gaze.

"Harry", Tonks called out a little louder trying to get his attention. Seeing that she was not getting any response from him, she continued, "Since, you surrendered of your own will, the Wizengamot is prepared to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment, if you make a plea of mercy. We have already drafted the plea and Elphias Doge is ready to present your case on your behalf. You just have to-"

"I will not make a plea. I refuse to allow anyone do it for me." The abrupt response made Tonks' voice falter but the crowd waited with bated breath as Tonks continued to explain the situation to Harry.

"Harry, the situation is very dire. The Wizengamot is very firm on this issue. They are screaming for your blood. The reason you have been transported from Azkaban to the holding cells is for your execution. If the Wizengamot office does not receive your plea for mercy before eight tomorrow morning, you will be cast into the Veil of death."

"_I know", _the hissed reply was the first one directed towards Tonks who flinched when his glare pinned her to her seat. "I choose death"

At this pronouncement, Lily Potter and her two daughters Evelyn and Rosalyn broke down into sobs while tears started streaming down James and Andrew's faces. The verdict that sentenced Harry to death was not unanticipated but, convicted criminal or not, Harry was still family and to hear him accepting his impending death so easily unsettled them. Meanwhile, Alexander Potter, the boy-who-lived, the man-who-triumphed was standing in the shadow watching the proceedings with an emotional detachment that was unnatural. However, for the first time in years, no one paid any attention to him.

Harry looked at Tonks, who had her head bowed unable to face him anymore, and answered, "I knew this would be my fate before I surrendered. I am not afraid of death."

Hermione Granger-Weasley who was sitting next to her family spoke up, trying to placate Harry. "It is understandable that you feel responsible for your actions. But, it is not necessary to give up your life to satisfy the guilt you are facing. The fact that you are feeling sorry for your crimes itself is punishment enough."

"Feel-feeling SORRY?"

Then Harry did something totally unexpected. He burst out laughing.

Not a sarcastic smile or anything but a genuine bellowing uncontrollable laughter that had him shaking in his chair and tears running down his face.

"Yo- you think I surrendered because I felt guilty?"

Seeing Hermione's flushed face, Harry continued trying to rein in his laughter.

"I did not feel guilty, you silly woman. Why should I feel guilty for doing something that I relish?" asked Harry with a feral grin. His eyes were glittering with an unholy twinkle.

"Th- then why?" asked a meek Hermione.

"Popularity, of course."

Seeing that the crowd didn't understand what he was saying, Harry chose to elaborate. "Even though I loved those killings, I felt something was missing, you know. I figured out eventually that even though people read about these horrific murders in the newspapers, they don't know who is doing them. That makes the whole thing look impassionate. They read about it in the papers, feel sorry or terrified for a few minutes and then go on with their lives. It takes the pleasure out of killing people."

Shivers ran down the spines of people as Harry Potter continued describing his reasons for surrender with relish.

"But the moment, they are able to put a face to these deaths, the whole thing becomes so real. Everything becomes terrifyingly clear. They feel fear. Terror. Everyone including each of you among this room felt the terror when you found all about my actions. I know. I can practically smell the fear in the air. The chamber reeks of it"

"Now, every time a wizard raises a wand to harm another, he will stop for a moment to think about me. Everytime those pureblood wankers talk about blood purity, he will think he could have been my next victim. The horrific expressions on those carcasses will seem real – more horrific. That is what I wanted. For years, I have invoked intrigue amongst the masses. But from now, the name Harold James Potter will incite fear. And that fear will reside in your hearts long after my death. It will be my legacy."

"Yes, I know even the lowest of the death eaters raked up a larger body count than me. Nineteen murders don't sound impressive in paper, but all of you can feel a terror that only Voldemort could achieve. And lets face it. I was much more imaginative."

"Then again, you could ask me, why does he choose death? Why doesn't he make a plea of mercy and live out his life in prison? Is it pride? Or perhaps he is afraid of Azkaban?"

Harry's glare passed over the crowd once more before it landed on James Potter who struggled to meet his gaze. "It's simple. The urge to utterly decimate the world is too high. I am unstoppable. I am way too powerful and intelligent to be contained by your pathetic aurors and dementors. If I choose prison, my bloodlust will eventually overwhelm my restraint and I will destroy everything. Your prison cells, magic inhibitors and shackles won't be able to contain my fury."

The auror who had left to fetch the dementors returned with four dementors now. The crowd watched with fear and awe as the aurors attached Harry's shackles to the dementors and allowed the beasts to lead him out of the chamber. Harry didn't protest but allowed the aurors to do their duty.

At the door, Harry turned towards the crowd where Lily Potter was trying desperately to catch a last glimpse at her eldest. The son who had just twenty hours to live. She could utter only one thing over and over again, "Please Harry. Please"

"Kill me when you have the chance. Kill me before I change my mind. Or you will regret it. That I can promise"


	2. You wanna talk!

**THE KING**

**By**

_**Seraph Orion Black**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter – storyline, characters or pretty much anything that earned JKR millions. I am merely twisting her story to how I see fit.

**Author's Note: **The story begins more or less from this point.

**Chapter 2**

**Thirty five years later**

**Potter Manor**

**20****th**** August 2043**

Alexander Charles Potter, the formerly known as boy-who-lived and eventually as the defeater of the dark lord Voldemort, sighed as he watched people lounging about his manor and enjoying the party that was going on in full swing. The party was thrown by his friends and family, in honour of him being elected as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for the second time. It was quite an accomplishment considering that the Wizengamot for a long time usually consisted of purebloods who simply despised anyone below their status – namely half-bloods and muggle-borns. To become not only a member of the Wizengamot but also to be elected as the Chief Warlock twice within the age of sixty-two, a middle age for a powerful wizard like himself, was not something anyone can brag about, especially someone who is also a halfblood.

However, Alex was not completely at ease, nor was he enjoying the party that was thrown for him. The entire evening, his mind was wrestling with a turmoil that he had been avoiding successfully for years. Those, who observed his plight, might think it had to do with the responsibilities that came with the post. However, that was not the case.

Alex was uneasy because one of his best friends Hermione Granger-Weasley had requested a private meeting with him immediately after the party. Alex had a good idea of what to expect when he noticed the odd glint in her eyes. To be frank he had been anticipating and preparing for this meeting for the past thirty five years. He was actually surprised that she had actually waited all these years.

After most of his guests had left, Alex saw Hermione walking towards him with a purposeful stride. Without a word, she led him to a small meeting room a little way off from his office. Upon entering the room, he was mildly surprised to find some people already occupying the room. Glancing at the people gathered in the room, his suspicions were confirmed.

Seated in the room were – his sisters Evelyn Potter-Hughes and her husband Kevin Hughes, Rosalyn Potter-Wyler and her husband Simon Wyler, his brother Andrew Potter and his wife Natalie Potter née McDonald, his best friend Neville Longbottom and his wife Hannah Longbottom née Abbot, Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin and Fleur Delacour-Weasley. All the individuals, he was sure, who would love to get to the bottom of the issue that Hermione had in mind.

Alex turned and grinned at a fidgeting Hermione who was looking as if she was gearing herself for something that she had been planning for a very long time. Everyone stopped talking and looked at her expectantly. Everyone else, except Alex, was expecting Hermione to break the silence and start the proceedings.

Hermione was currently the Deputy Head of the department of Co-operation of Sentient Beings, awaiting the promotion to the department head in a few months. It had been a department that had been formed after the end of Voldemort after it was uncovered to the wizarding public how easy life could be to co-operate with other sentient magical beings than try to force them to submission or simply make enemies out of them.

For over twenty years, Fleur had worked at Gringotts before retiring to France with her husband, Bill to look after the vineyard her father had left her.

Neville Longbottom, a decorated war hero and former-auror partner to the infamous Alex Potter, retired after being slightly crippled during a raid in his auror days and started his own greenhouse and has been successful for a few years. His former-classmate turned wife Hannah was a successful Potions Mistress

Andrew Potter was now one of the senior aurors of the British ministry of magic though he made it quite clear that he was going to retire in a few years to look after his investments and financial commitments and start the world tour he had been planning for the past ten years. His wife, Natalie was a homemaker.

Evelyn and Rosalyn were co-founders and partners of a chain of clothing stores throughout magical UK which was doing moderately successful. Kevin Hughes taught History of Magic in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry and Simon Wyler was the one of British representatives to the ICW.

Lastly, Tonks was the head auror for the British DMLE after Kingsley Shacklebolt was promoted to the head of the DMLE.

Seeing his childhood friend fidget while thinking about how to broach the subject shook Alex out of the reverie. It wasn't often you could see Hermione Granger-Weasley, one of the brightest witch of her time, at least according to the majority of the wizarding Britain, struggle with something as trivial as start a conversation with one of her long time friend. Inwardly enjoying the show, Alex feigned ignorance and looked at her pointedly making her even more uneasy.

The truth, however, was inwardly that Alex was more nervous than anyone had ever known him to be. The topic that they wanted to discuss was something he had been trying to forget and get over for years. Alex knew that if the ugly truth were to get out, the people in the room would reconsider their judgement of him. Alex knew that not many people would agree to what happened and prayed that he wouldn't be judged the guilty party.

Glaring at her partners in crime who had pushed her to this task Hermione started, "Well, Alex, you see, the reason we wanted to see you is ... erm.... well ....... um ......"

Wanting to get this thing over with before next week, Alex dropped his ignorant facade and interrupted, "Save it, Hermione. I know the reason why all of you people wanted to confront me. Frankly, I have been waiting for decades for you guys to show up and start demanding answers."

Hermione sighed in relief, now that her main problem was over – getting Alex to start talking. They were almost reluctant to approach Alex to discuss the matter as they could sense it was always a sensitive issue for him, but it was at Hermione's insistence that they put aside their concerns and confront him. Well, that and their own desire to learn more about Harry.

Observing the emotions that passed through the faces of the gathered, Alex inwardly chuckled and continued, "All of you are dying to know what happened but do not know where to look for or who to ask. Very well, what do you want to know about Harry."

Seeing the others fidget at how Alex dropped the bombshell on them, Neville sighed and started, "Well, as you said, Alex, we all know what happened to him but we also know that whatever crap that the Daily Prophet published or the case files in the DMLE and the Wizengamot archive said wasn't the complete truth."

"Based on what we knew about him and what we could pilfer from the general media, we each had our own theories about what actually happened. After some discussion with Tonks last year, I found that my perceptions about Harry did not match with Tonks'. Several facts we found in the case file archives about his case didn't match with what we know. So we decided to ask the others to try and figure out some of the anomalies in his case. Slowly the group grew and each time someone finds out something new about him, it added something new about him and it..."

Seeing Neville struggle, Alex stepped in, "Neville, you are rambling. Just get to the point. First tell me what general details you people know and then start with your personal experience with him."

His brother and sisters looked as if they wanted to argue the point but a glare from Alex shut them up real quick.

"You don't know anything about the life he lived, the odds he faced, the slander he stormed, the people he fought against, his victories and defeats. You know nothing whereas I think I do. So do as I say."


	3. Say WHAT!

**THE KING**

_**by**_

_**Seraph Orion Black**_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Harry Potter – storyline, characters or pretty much anything that earned JKR millions. I am merely twisting her story to how I see fit._

**Chapter 2 **

**Nymphadora Tonks**

Tonks took a deep glance at Alex and then turned to look at the rest of the group. After receiving a tentative nod from the rest of the crowd, she decided to start her part of the story.

"Seeing as how Alex is having us waste time making us tell a story", she said glaring at the said person, she continued, "I will also give all of you a brief history of myself and Harry."

"The first time I met your brother Harry was when I was nine years old and he was six years old. At first, both of us wanted nothing more than get as far away from each other as possible. Me not wanting another pesky kid asking me to make funny faces for him and he not wanting to be around a constantly moping girl."

"After a couple of weeks of enduring Sirius and mum forcing us to be friends, we slowly opened up. For once in my life I was happy that someone my age was happy to discuss something with me other than what funny face I could make for them next. He was ecstatic when he learnt that I liked quidditch and I learnt about my dormant love for pranks. We became very close friends and soon mum and Sirius were very, very unhappy to have introduced us. Both of us were able to overcome the age barrier between us and become best of friends, even when we went to different schools and eventually different careers"

"I was most surprised when I learnt that he was not joining the order, even after being personally invited by Dumbledore himself. I then learnt slowly from interacting with you people that he never had a decent relationship with any of you. This was very unusual because I have seen him make friends with just about anyone he came across regardless of age or whatever barriers he had. Combined with the way he refused to take part in the fight and the way he acted towards his own siblings and parents, I concluded that Durmstrang had changed him somewhat. But later, I realized that even when he was perfectly friendly with me before he started school but completely ignorant to you. I also found nothing wrong with you that might have convinced him to stay away."

"As you all know, he was not, by any stretch of imagination, a regular member of the order. In fact apart from Snape, he was the only one who had so much influence over Dumbledore. He worked on some important, apparently top-secret research for the Headmaster. That and he was also our premier negotiator, envoy, think-tank and source of information about who's who in the wizarding world - not just Britain but the entire world."

"But Harry was far from sitting on the sidelines and working on his research and do nothing more. Every meeting he would challenge some decision that was made by Dumbledore. Normally when Dumbledore made opened a subject for debate no one would contradict him but Harry had no problems questioning his plans, criticize the methods he employed and downright insult him when some of the plans that backfired as he predicted."

"At first, everyone hated Harry for being so disrespectful to Dumbledore and were very vocal about it, especially McGonagall and Moody. But whenever someone tried to reprimand him he would start insulting them in front of the entire order. Many wanted him booted out of the Order but no one could contest his resourcefulness especially when it came to his contacts. Even though I myself was not impressed by his behaviour I couldn't stop admiring the audacity that I thought he had lost, to do that in front of over fifty order members."

"For some younger members of the Order like the Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and I, it was the constant source of entertainment that we could look forward to in the otherwise boring meetings. But for all his rudeness and blunt remarks, he made some truly wonderful arguments and slowly people started questioning Dumbledore's tactics. After a year or so of him joining the order even Minerva, one of Dumbledore's staunchest supporters asked for reasons to do what she was asked to do."

"All in all things were dramatic in the order and I was back to being very good friends with him till that incident happened. One day Dumbledore asked Moody and me to go and personally fetch Harry and bring him to Hogwarts. Moody was in one of his moods, wanted to give him a lecture about 'Constant Vigilance'. Moody planned to catch him unaware and get a good hex on him before giving him a good lecture in front of everyone. What we didn't count on was the masking of wards in his house. We didn't know we had set off the silent alarms. Next thing I remember was me sitting in the DMLE enquiry room in front of a pissed off Amelia Bones and explaining to her why I should never enter a wizard's house without proper warrant."

"It seemed as if Harry took us to the DMLE and pressed charges against both of us. He knew it was under Dumbledore's bidding we came to his house but he did not retract the compliant. Even though he knew he was going to put a black mark in my career, he didn't back down. I was suspended for a month and Alastor had to pay several thousand galleons penalty. Later that day in the order meeting he refused to listen to Dumbledore and tore into him for, in his words, 'setting his lapdogs to do his dirty work of attacking from the back and voyeurism'. Whatever friendship we had broke that night after we had a row for his name-calling. I felt betrayed by his lack of concern for me. Yes, snooping around his house was not something I am proud of, but his actions were a bit too much for it and I was hurt too much by his actions. After that we fell into the roles of just colleagues."

"After his surrender and his trial, I was only able to visit him in an official basis and never got the chance to visit him as a friend. I was and still am hurt by the loss of my first as well as best friend though I never said this to anyone." Tonks looked like she was about to cry when she came to the part about Harry's execution.

"Anyways when I was talking about your friendship with Harry to Neville last year, it was a surprise to him as well as the rest of the people here. And I was startled to find that you had grown quite close to him in the year when he joined the order. Neither I nor anyone else in the order knew this, not to mention his involvements with the horcruxes. I never knew about the horcruxes until after Voldemort was defeated. So Neville and presumed that he was still in contact with you during that time. That is why I am intrigued."

"Why was he very reluctant to get close to you four when he made friends with literally everyone he met? Why did he reconcile with you alone, Alex, years later and not the others? Why did he lash out so harshly at me, one of his first friends for trying to invade his privacy? What was he hiding? What did he want to protect so much that he was prepared to throw years of friendship away in a moment?"

"Then we come to the drama of his so called trial and execution. Everyone knew he was the one involved in all the murders even when we did not have any evidence to convict him. Heck, even I knew he could get away with it. That slimy bastard didn't leave any clue – no evidence of any sorts to even bring him in for questioning. So when he had done everything he could to destroy all evidences then why did he surrender? It doesn't seem like something he would do. I bet none of the public knew just how ghastly each murder was. Though I didn't have any doubts he was behind those murders, I still don't believe he would torture someone to that extent, no matter how much they deserved that."

"I also saw him when he surrendered. There was no trace of fear or anger or peace or sadness or guilt in his eyes. He was looking like he was expecting something and satisfied with whatever that has to come. Especially when he was led to be executed. He looked smug – like he was anticipating something big. I knew that face. It's the face he has whenever he pulled a truly brilliant prank. But to have such an emotion at that point of his life was not normal. It didn't make any sense to me."

Tonks took a deep breath and looked at Alex accusingly, "Alex, everyone knows that your propulsion into the world of politics didn't happen for a few years after Voldemort's defeat. We know it was the drama behind Harry's execution that made you take up politics. But of late, I realise that almost all of your political success has some connection to his death. We came to the conclusion that the way you operate changed entirely after your entry to politics. You have been the most successful politician in Britain after Professor Dumbledore. Don't take this wrongly, you have been brilliant and we are happy for your success but I can't shake off this feeling that Harry's death has a lot more to do with your success than just instigate your interest. Was this what Harry was anticipating before his death? Did he know his death would change so much? Or did he have anything to do with it?"

"I want to know what truly happened in my friend's life, so I expect you to answer all my questions", she said with a lot of steel in her voice.

_**MEMORY**_

_**Christmas Eve, 1996.**_

_Fleur stepped out of her room and into the living room, where she knew her boyfriend was waiting for her. Her bright silvery blue eyes scanned the room before coming to rest on the figure sitting on the couch, reading the morning's newspaper. Wearing a midnight blue muggle suit with a crisp white shirt and a matching tie, he looked smart and charming, just the way she liked._

_Harry looked up from the Daily Prophet he was reading, to look at Fleur watching him silently with a mischievous smirk on her face. She was dressed in traditional dress robes in sky blue colour that perfectly matched her sparkling eyes and hugged her figure enticingly. Her long silvery blond hair was flowing around her shoulders. There was no make-up on her face as her veela ancestry made sure she didn't need any._

_Harry looked at her impassively for a couple of seconds before complimenting, "You look nice"_

_Fleur raised an eyebrow, imitating one of Harry's mannerisms and asked in a mock-outraged tone, "Nice? Iz zat all you 'ave to say to me? I spend two 'ours of my time, making sure I look ze best for you and you say 'nice'. Harry darling, zis is anozzer lesson in dealing wiz ze ladies. You must learn to pay better compliments to your lady from time to time. Now, are you going to say something romantic to me?"_

_Harry looked a bit amused at her behaviour before stepping closer to her while saying, "I could say you would make an angel feel jealous of your beauty or a full moon looks dull compared to your radiance". He stepped even close to her, invading her personal space, one hand going around her waist and the other cupping her cheek. He continued in a husky, breathy voice, "I could say you make me feel like I am in the presence of divinity", he leaned in closer as if to kiss her on the lips. Fleur closed her eyes anticipating a kiss but she was surprised when she felt him pull back a little. She opened her eyes to look curiously at Harry who was smirking at her. Looking at her questioning glance, he said, "But I choose not to. I stand by my earlier statement. You look nice."_

"_Why?" Fleur asked in exasperation, "Just when I feel a little better for training you to be better, you go around and spoil it for me"_

_Harry continued to smirk but eventually replied, "Two reasons, my dear Fleur. One, I might stumble on my words trying to make myself look better in your eyes. I may succeed but I may also fail, if I stutter unable to find praises for you spontaneously. It would make me look so not cool and ruin my reputation"_

"_And ze other?" Fleur asked while looking into his hypnotising green eyes. Harry spoke in his usual calm tone, "Saying something so long wastes my time. The time I could be using for something better. Something like this". With that he bent down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss._

_**END OF MEMORY**_

Looking around for a moment and seeing everyone nod; Fleur started slowly, "What I am about to say is very, very personal to me and in all zeese years, I haven't talked about zis to anyone, not even my parents or Bill. So, I need promizes from everyone zat whatever I say in this room stays in zis room and we do not talk about this anytime after this."

She looked around for a moment studying the faces of everyone while they gave their assent to her. A couple of them, most importantly Hermione, were curious as to what she had to say while she could detect a hint of anxiety in the face of Alex. She filed that away in her mind to study that later. It meant he knew or at least had an idea of what Fleur was about to say. So Alex Potter knew something that the others didn't. She made her mind to force the complete truth out of him before the end of the evening.

"I knew your mother from the time she became my teacher in my second year. My mum and she were good friends. She used to have such pride and joy in her eyes when she would describe her children to us but she never talked about her eldest. In fact, I didn't even know that she had a son my age - I thought Alex was her eldest son. I found out about Harry when I found your mother crying over his letter. It was the first time I heard of him and he had already made one of the sweetest person I know cry. That wasn't the best of first impressions one could make. I was quite angry at someone I've never even heard of before let alone meet, because he had hurt one of the nicest people I know with a simple letter."

"I worked on your mother for the better part of six months to get her to start talking about her eldest son. I was surprised to find that your mother was as much proud of him as she was with the rest of your family even if he was cold and distant to her."

"My initial assessment of Harry Potter was slightly changed by this admission. I found myself wondering if circumstances had been different, he would have turned up exactly like Alex or Andrew. I subtly enquired in my letters to you guys about the relationship you had with him and found that you were not very different from your parents where it concerned him. I could sense that even though you resented his attitude, you guys would have loved to have a better relationship with him."

"The biggest source of information about Harry was Cassandra who lived with your mother in the castle. I initially dismissed her adoration for Harry as a young child looking up to her big brother. But I was suitably shocked when I saw him showing similar interest in her, if the long letters she got from him were any indication. I smuggled one or two of the letters he sent her and found that he genuinely cared about her just from the way he wrote. The fact that I was not able to meet him face to face to draw my own conclusions about him frustrated me to no end. "

"Unknown to me, all of you had misunderstood my interest in him as something romantic. I didn't know that all of you were ready to talk to me about him so that you could get me to like him. Your mother wanted me to get close to him because she liked me. I was totally oblivious to all the assumptions made by you people and I very much wanted to meet him, speak to him only to crack the puzzle that he was."

"The first time I saw him was during the Triwizard tournament. He was nothing like I had ever imagined. Tall, handsome, smart and charming, I was stumped by his mere presence. He was much more confident than anyone I've ever seen and I admit he had a presence about him that drew me to him. That's what made me ask him out for the Yule Ball."

"With everything happening around the tournament I couldn't pay the attention I wanted, to Harry and before I knew it we were headed home. Secretly I was pleased with the progress I have made with him when realization hit me that I felt attracted to your brother, not that it was very difficult. I could no longer deny that I fancied Harry. I got a job that summer at Gringotts in London. Eventually, we started seeing each other"

"The two years that I dated him were the most exciting period of my life and I still carry some fond memories from that period that I will forever cherish. He brought out a side of me that I never realised I had. He brought out my interest for trying out new things, inspired me to travel and learn new things every day. For someone whose idea of date usually involved an expensive restaurant, this was a revelation. We used to debate many things and I found that he was an expert spokesman who could, given time, convince anyone to accept his views."

"We continued to date for a few more months and I enjoyed them more and more. Then I went and did something that I am not proud of. One evening, I cooked dinner at my house and invited him over. After dinner I managed to spike his drink hoping that alcohol would loosen his tongue and he would let slip a few things that I was convinced that I could finally crack the puzzle of what he was. He was drunk and I slowly steered the conversation towards his family. What happened was so unexpected that I was shocked to the core. He completly broke down and started to cry while mumbling something about being unable to have a decent relationship with his family and having to put on an act in front of everyone and how he hated what he was doing and hated wearing a mask to hide who he truly was for his entire life."

"I was so taken back that I didn't even think about comforting him. My mind was reeling about what he had said. When I shook myself out of my reverie, he had passed out on my couch. I had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. The next morning I found him staring at me with barely concealed fury, disappointment and a hint of fear. But he controlled himself and asked me to keep what I had learnt to myself and left."

"I didn't realise for sometime that in a bid to help him, I had destroyed whatever faith he had in me and I lost any chance whatever I had of pursuing our relationship. I felt miserable and broken-hearted. I packed up my bags and left for France. After a month, I returned and the first thing I did was go to his house and apologise. He politely accepted my apologies and I left knowing that he would never forgive me let alone forget that incident and I wouldn't be able to even have barest friendship with him. But I was wrong. He seemed to genuinely care for me as a friend and he did not treat me different from the rest of his friends."

She stopped talking for a moment and smiled wryly with tears glistening in her eyes. Everyone sitting there could sympathise with her when they saw how badly she was affected by something she did out of shear stupidity. After a couple of minutes, Fleur continued, "I love Bill. I do not have any doubts about that. But there are moments in my life when I have wondered what my life would have been, had I not been stupid. I still wonder if I could have managed something permanent in terms of my relationship with him. I kind of feel responsible for what he did because he was clearly under a lot of strain from something and I only added to his problems while I could have been giving him the support that he needed."

All of a sudden, Fleur broke into tears and it was a shock to see the normally strong-willed French witch break down spectacularly. All the females in the room went to comfort her while the males stepped out to give her some privacy. It, however, brought one thing to everyone's mind – she was still a bit in love with Harry Potter and had been repressing those feelings for so long.

After a few minutes, the group once again sat down and Fleur gave everyone a thankful smile. Then she resumed, "I have never told anyone before today what he had mumbled under the influence of alcohol since I felt like I was betraying his memory by doing something he had asked me not to do. I don't know why I did it but I felt like I had to do it. But, it wasn't until Tonks asked me that I realised that I couldn't have gotten Harry drunk or at least drunk enough to spill his guts. I've seen him drink and I know he can hold his drink. I don't know why I never realised this before. I also don't know if there is more to this story that I am not aware of."

"There was something odd about my father's reaction when I mentioned to him that I was dating Harry. My father never really approved anyone to be a suitable match for me, not even Bill even after years of marriage. But he was happy when I mentioned Harry's name. I thought that they had never met. I learnt years later Harry had visited my father before he asked me out, to ask his permission to ask me out and after the disastrous end to our relationship, he went and explained to my father that things didn't work out between us. Harry never once mentioned this to me. I don't know why. Also a couple of years ago, I stumbled upon my father's journal in the cottage in our vineyard. In it he mentioned how he always hoped that I would end up with Harry and was terribly disappointed in me getting together with Bill and how it was Harry who reassured him that Bill was as honourable as I told my father."

"My father was never the one to approve someone so easily, especially by someone else's words. How Harry managed to assure Bill was good enough when father didn't have that much of a contact with him is a mystery. I also found upon inheriting the vineyard in France that my father's secret partner in the vineyard was none other than Alex Potter. I know for a fact that the partnership has never been sold ever since it was made years ago. Alex was too young to start investing at that age, so I could speculate from who you inherited that from someone else, after reading my father's journal. It was Harry, wasn't it?" Seeing Alex stiffen a bit she said, "I found from the records divisions of French ministry, Alex. It was supposed to be the gift to your marriage from Harry, wasn't it?"

Fleur didn't relent but continued, "What I want to know is what he meant by saying that he put a mask to hide his true self? What was his true self? Who was he exactly? What was his relationship with my father? How close were they and why did both of them hide their friendship from me? When Tonks and I shared stories about Harry, I realised that my father's life was similar. There were large missing parts in my father's life that I never knew about and I found it odd to have such coincidences. My father showed a lot of interest in history and politics, something I know Harry appreciated. Was their relationship purely business or were they both part of something bigger? Was my father a part of whatever happened to Harry? Did my father know something about him that the others did not? If he knew something about Harry that I did not, then why did he tell me about that? If my father cared about Harry as his diary suggests, then why didn't he try to defend him?"

If anything Alex looked a bit pale and uneasy when Fleur mentioned her father.

Finding Alex become more and more uneasy, Hermione started, "A conversation with Viktor Krum last year taught me that I have underestimated Harry a LOT. The way Viktor talked to me about Harry's intelligence, magical powers and everything else might not make sense to anyone at that time. But in hindsight, it seems to me that your brother was preparing for a battle even though Voldemort did not rise until he was out of school. He made sure he was one of the best, no scratch that, he made sure that he was the best at what he did which included duelling, yet when war was brewing in our country, he seemed to be in no mood to participate."

"These raise several questions to my mind. None of you or your parents knows the specific details of his school life. Oh, you know he went to Durmstrang and was very popular and smart but nothing concrete. Why did he hide his abilities, his money and the contacts he had established throughout Europe for so long especially your parents? If I didn't know better, I would say he was planning something that he didn't want the others to know. Also, I didn't know what happened to all his money and investments after his death. I knew that during his death, his entire wealth was slightly less than a million galleons. But if my intuition and my research are correct, then he must have had quite a fortune. No one knows where the money went."

"That brings me to the next point. Why didn't he help you in the war against Voldemort? I am sure we could have used someone of his talents and power. He would have been one of the best in our side."

She looked at Alex expectantly for a few moments while he was giving her an unreadable expression as if he was thinking hard or bursting to say something. After contemplating for a few moments, he motioned to Neville who simply grinned at him and said, "I think Hermione has covered all the points that needed to be covered."

Neville then took a deep breath and started again, "But my main concerns are what I learnt from the Wizengamot case file archive. When Tonks and I reviewed his file, we found several anomalies that we didn't simply notice during the time of his death. The fact that no one has noticed it is, in itself, disturbing. For example, most of his supposed crimes happened within a year and a half of Voldemort's death. There was this seven year blank period in his life – from the time he left home and Voldemort's death for which there is not much explanation. From what I know so far, there couldn't have been more than a dozen or so sightings of him. What else did he do in all these years? Where else did he go? What else did he do? Was someone helping him?"

"Then there are the nineteen victims of his massacre. Most of them were people of considerable power in the government. How did he get past all the protections put in place for them at the same time avoiding detection? How on God's green earth did he lure Lucius Malfoy out of hiding when he reportedly spent all his time around Voldemort? There is also the matter of his personal file in the Ministry archives. No OWLs or NEWTs score, no medical records. It's almost empty. I know all prisoners who are to be executed should have received a full medical check-up. So I fished that report out from the Azkaban prison archives. At a simple glance, there was nothing odd. But after a couple of read-through, I knew it was a fake. It was perfect, saying the prisoner was in perfect health but even I know that wasn't possible. Another odd thing was that the healer who filled out the report didn't file his/her name in the report. So we don't know who examined him or if he got an examination at all or why they were faking his records."

"Next thing is his execution. The records say that he actually chose execution rather than imprisonment. Is this true? If it is then why would the Wizengamot do what the convict suggested? More importantly why was the trial a closed one and why was he never given Veritaserum to confirm these? Seems to me that a lot of people wanted him dead as soon as possible. But what appalled me the most is his testimony. If I compare his testimony and the evidence we unearthed after his death, I think he had a chance of getting reduced sentence for all the deaths. It made one thing clear to me. Whatever secrets he held, it made Harry die to protect them and the Wizengamot kill him so that they are not exposed."

Alex simply nodded his head indicating that he heard Neville but did not comment. The others in the room sat gaping at what Neville had revealed. After a moment of contemplation, Alex turned and raised his eyebrows at his sisters as if asking them 'don't you have something to add as well.'

Taking a deep breath, Evelyn turned and looked at Alex and asked, "Rosie and I knew you were getting close to him but you didn't seem to want to include us. So, we kept your secret but we can't help but wonder about it at times. Just what were you doing Alex? Were you two merely starting a tentative friendship or were you two plotting something? If you honestly had nothing malicious, then why hide your friendship from everyone – from us? Why did he choose death, Alex? With the lack of evidence as Tonks and Neville pointed out, I don't think he would have gotten convicted at all. Why did he surrender when he clearly had an advantage? Also, when we went to visit him before his death, he didn't even look in our direction as if he couldn't see or hear me or Rosie or Andrew. What still troubles me the most is the murderous looks he sent to mum and dad? What did they do to deserve such hatred from him?"

Tonks who had been silent for a long time looked at Alex and asked, "Well Alex, we have entertained you for some time now, I think it is time for you to come out with the truth. Just who was he? Don't bother denying anything because I've always known you were more involved in his affairs than you ever let upon. If there was someone who knew what he was doing, it was you. And I bet it wasn't something small either."

Alex regarded them for a moment and slowly walked to a cabinet near the wall. Opening it, he bought out a bottle of vodka and silently offered to anyone who wanted. Seeing that none of them wanted a drink, he poured himself a stiff drink and downed it in a gulp and returned to his seat. After a short pause, he started slowly as if he was whispering.

"You want to know who he really was? Why he hid everything about himself from everyone even us? Why he purposefully threw away his friendship with Tonks making her think it was over a trivial matter that she thinks she remembers? Why he even went to Durmstrang and didn't even want to come to Hogwarts? Why he deliberately chose to break up with Fleur for something she thinks she did? Why he pushed himself to the limit and beyond to make himself the best? Why he chose to leave the country when we were desperate for any help? Why he died when he could've lived on to be the greatest wizard of our time?"

"Make me think?"

"What do you mean something trivial that I think I remember? I remember exactly what happened"

Looking at Fleur and Tonks whose brows were knitted in a frown, Alex replied in a grave tone, "Yes. You think you remember. Because some things are not always the way they are just because you remember them as you think you do"

Tonks looked confused for a minute before Hermione gasped, "Memory charms?"

Alex's face broke into a wry smile as he replied, "Yes. You, Tonks and you too, Fleur, found out what he was doing nearly forty years ago. Yet, you don't remember them because Harry didn't want you to."

Tonks and Fleur looked at each other for a minute in grim contemplation before glaring at Alex in unison growling in unison, "We could kill you if you weren't already dead, Harry James Potter."


	4. Battle of the three egos

**THE KING**

**by**

**Seraph Orion Black**

_**Disclaimer: **__I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. IT BELONGS TO J. AND WHATNOT. SOME OF THE PLOT IN THIS STORY BELONGS TO ME. IF MY STORY HAS SOME ELEMENTS SIMILAR TO STORIES FROM SOME OTHER AUTHOR ITS PURELY CO-INCIDENTAL AND NOT AT ALL INTENTIONAL. _

_**Author Notes**__: This is not a regular manipulative Dumbledore story. Yes, he manipulates everyone but he is not evil. He genuinely cares about everyone and feels that every one of his manipulations is for their own good. He never does anything for personal reasons. His intentions are pure and he truly regrets every wrong he does but his actions are definitively manipulative. Kinda like a St. Dumbledore who messes up things mainly when it comes to Harry James Potter._

_By the way, I welcome suggestions for pairing for Harry and Alex. NO GINNY. Obviously it can't be Hermione, Tonks or Fleur and I don't think addition of more OC's will look good._

_I am considering one these and most likely to choose one for Alex from these:_

_LUNA LOVEGOOD_

_CHO CHANG_

_SUSAN BONES_

_TRACY DAVIS_

_SU LI_

_LISA TURPIN_

_But the question that is bugging me is, should Harry have a pair? It is not easy to find one for him. Obviously it can't be Fleur or Tonks. He has a fling with Fleur but they break up and they move on. I don't want to introduce some OC to be his pair. Any suggestions?_

_For __**BLAH, MARIUS DEJORDAN AND POTTERDOWNTHESTREET, t**__hank you for the reviews. This is my one serious attempt at fanfic after my first two failed ones. I am learning slowly and I'll try to make the subsequent chapters better._

****

**Chapter – 5**

_**MEMORY**_

_Thirty one year old Harry James Potter watched his brother Alex who was currently pacing in front of the couch he was sitting in. Alex had finally defeated Lord Voldemort and his death eaters barely a year ago. But right now, his face showed more confusion and fear than he had shown in his entire life even when he was fighting one of the most powerful dark lords of all time. All of his fear and confusion was shrouded in a thick veil of perpetual sadness._

_Harry, on the other hand, looked calm, not bothered in the slightest by what was happening. Deciding that Alex had paced enough, Harry spoke breaking the silence that had prevailed for the past half hour._

"_You know why I have to surrender, Alex. I can't afford to prolong this."_

_Alex whirled around and for the first time there was anger in his features. "And what?", spat Alex, "do you know what those vultures would do to you? DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU?"_

"_Yes"_

_The calm answer infuriated Alex even more but he forcefully shoved his anger away not wanting to show it to the one person whom he owed more than anything in the world._

"_The Wizengamot will no doubt execute me. They can't let the man who could expose each and every bit of their... 'felonies' to the world. They'll jump at the chance."_

"_Yes!", yelled Alex in frustration, "they'll kill you. You can't die. Not you. Not like that. After everything you have done, you can't die."_

_Harry stood from the couch and walked into the balcony overseeing the sea, gazing at the sunset. After a minute of silence, Harry spoke, "But as you already know Alex, I AM dying already. I am going to die in the next year or so. I'd rather have it happen in my own terms."_

_Alex walked to stand next to his elder brother and observed him for a minute. When Alex spoke his voice was in a broken whisper in a mixture of sorrow, fear and hopelessness. "We still have some time, Harry. There must have been something we missed. I know it. You can't survive everything the magical world has thrown at you only to die..."_

_Harry turned to face his brother and saw the hopelessness in Alex's eyes. Harry sighed in defeat and turned away not wanting to disappoint Alex any further._

_Alex still couldn't let his brother go through with the insane plan of his. Resolving his heart once more, he began pleading with him, "Harry, please listen to me. If you go and confess, the Wizarding world will brand you as a villain. A murderer. YOU. ARE. NOT. A. CRIMINAL. The wizarding world should know what you have done for them. For us. For me. You have saved thousands of people from a fate worse than slavery, Harry. We couldn't have defeated Voldemort without you, Harry. The people need to know your story. They need to know why we fought this war. You should be remembered in history as one of the greatest wizards of all time and everyone should respect you. You deserve that. You don't deserve history to remember you as a criminal."_

_Harry spoke without facing Alex, "Those are the precise reasons I'm going to surrender, kid. Tell me, if people knew what I did, what I was doing, will they see me as their hero or a villain worse than Voldemort? Can you guarantee that I will not be scorned or hated or feared more than anyone else in the wizarding world? My efforts have always bordered on the line of morality. Heck, more than once, I have gone beyond that line to ensure favourable results. There is no going back; after all I knew this day would come sooner or later, even before I started. All it will take is one person's sense of morality to brand me, and by extension you, a criminal. I can't let them do that to you. It will ruin everything I've ever worked for."_

_Alex sighed in defeat and turned away not wanting to let Harry see the tears in his eyes. He knew Harry would never approve him showing his weakness to anyone. After a few minutes of silence, Alex asked, "Tell me again, why I agreed to this madness?"_

_Harry looked at Alex with a disapproving expression when he saw the younger man having tears in his eyes but refrained from commenting on it. Instead he replied, "Too many people are sniffing around in the wrong places. Eventually the truth will come out in one way or the other. I can't go around cutting off all leads or obliviating them. If it gets out, the peace we worked for can never be achieved. We have to tie all loose ends."_

"_You did. You tied all loose ends", interrupted Alex._

"_Yes", growled Harry not happy about being interrupted, "but there is still a loose end that has to be tied. The biggest one of them all. Me. Without me, no one can ever connect everything that has happened in the past ten years to you. Hopefully, everyone will go back to thinking that it was all Voldemort's work, as they have until today."_

"_That still doesn't explain why you have to get killed deliberately. You can always disappear. Stay hidden. At least that way, you won't be branded a criminal."_

_Harry sighed wondering how much more time he would have to spend to convince Alex to agree to do what he wanted. "Even if I die, Alex, people will eventually dig out my history. I have to invent a new one so that people will see only what I want them to see. I have to give them something to satisfy their curiosity. To hide the bigger events, I will have to confess to the smaller ones. To hide my much bigger crimes, I will have to confess to nineteen murders. I have to play the crowd, Alex. People love drama and that is what they are going to get with my surrender. With the drama I am going to generate with my surrender, I am going to kill anyone's curiosity about me and my more important secrets."_

"_What makes you think they won't dig deeper about your life after you surrender?", Alex asked incredulously._

_Harry looked at Alex with a small smile of amusement tugging at the corner of his lips, "Give the public and the government what they want and they will never question anything beyond it, Alex. I thought I had taught you this by now." Shaking his head, Harry continued, "The wizarding population is still a bit dense. Everything depends on my trial, if I receive one. If I make the impression I want on the members of the Wizengamot, they will want me dead as fast as possible. It won't give anyone who wants, the time to investigate me."_

"_After that?", chocked out Alex_

_Harry smiled a true smile of the whole evening and replied, "I have been making some arrangements for some time. I've already planned for the aftermath and arranged a few things. I plan to spread chaos and disorder among the population from beyond the grave. After all, who could resist learning a couple of nasty truths about their government and the people who run it, from a dead man. All I need you to do, is to walk through every step I've laid for you without making a mistake and take advantage of the chaos. If everything goes to plan, you will be in position to do what I want you to do in the next fifteen to twenty years."_

_Seeing Harry smile made Alex angry than before, "What about our family, damn it? What about Rosie, Evie and Andrew? What about Tonks? What about the rest of your friends? Do you even care about them?"_

_Harry looked away not wanting to meet Alex's eyes and asked in a cold voice, "What about them?"_

"_Don't THEY deserve the truth?", spat Alex angrily, "Don't they deserve to know what you have been doing all these years? Have you ever truly cared about them or are they nothing more than a part of the wonderful plan of yours?"_

_Harry turned and started to walk away from Alex. Without turning, Harry replied, "No. Its better off that they think of me as a murderer like the rest of the population than knowing the truth. One of my mistakes I've ever regretted in my entire life is bringing you into this twisted underbelly of the wizarding world. They are better off thinking of me as a murderer than learn the truth about me and my world. I've never done anything to them that they would have appreciated, just to show that I do care about them. That they are as important to me as Cassandra was. But circumstances required me to act like I did. If there is one last gift I can give them, it is to make sure they are free from the burden of the true knowledge of my life."_

_**END OF MEMORY**_

"Alexander Charles Potter, you will tell me everything and you will tell me right now. What did the Harry do to our memories? I want to hear it and don't even think about trying to weasel out of telling the whole truth. I demand it now." Tonks all but snarled at him.

Thinking hard for a moment trying to come up with an excuse to get out of his current predicament, Alex figured the only way to deal with them was to tell them the truth. Giving a defeated sigh, Alex murmured, "Harry is going to hate me for doing this." Taking a deep breath, he faced his audience and started, "Alright, I will. But, I will need an unbreakable vow from you people that anything and everything I say inside this room stays inside this room and you will not say or act upon anything you hear from me, unless I specifically ask you to. Will you accept to these conditions?"

Everyone looked at each other uneasily as Alex calmly observed their expressions. Neville who looked startled for a moment asked, "Alex is an unbreakable vow completely necessary? Can't you trust us? After all everyone here is either your family or close friend. Do you think that we will betray you?"

"Sorry, Nev. It is necessary. If you don't want to, I understand. I will have to obliviate your memories, though."

"Alexander Charles Potter!", screeched Hermione, offended that her friend would even suggest obliviating her. But Alex merely gave her a pointed look that made any protest she was ready to make die in her throat.

Taking a sip of vodka from his glass, he looked at them expectantly. Slowly, one by one, the people in the room started giving him their unbreakable vows accepting Alex's conditions.

Alex sighed in relief and said, "Thank you. I was afraid you guys will not agree. Thank you for trusting me. As a thank you, I promise you that whatever I am going to tell you is the absolute truth. There will be no half-truths or cover-ups."

Once again pulling out his wand, Alex started to silently put up several privacy and obscuration charms with an expert ease making them all wonder about the quiet and shy boy that he was once. After he was satisfied with the results he pocketed his wand, he started to talk.

"Alright what do you want me to say?", started Alex. "Do you want me to talk about the reasons for the mysteries behind the missing years of his life or the reason why everyone involved wanted Harry dead?"

"I want to know why he surrendered, Alex. He could have walked away from this mess and he could have been just fine. What made him choose death? If he was going to eventually confess and accept the punishment for it, then why did he murder those people in the first place?", questioned Tonks.

Alex nodded his head at Tonks' question to indicate that he heard her. Instead of answering her, Alex questioned them back, "Tell me, Tonks, the reason for Voldemort's side and ours was fighting for two wars and two decades?"

"Power, Alex", replied Tonks automatically, "he wanted absolute power. Political, financial, manpower, magical. He wanted it all for himself. We didn't want to concede it to him. Thats why we fought."

"Then why did this world give that power to me?", countered Alex. "Was it because I defeated Voldemort? Or was it because I am a very powerful wizard? If this world trusts me with power, then why didn't it trust Voldemort? I mean he was a very powerful wizard as well. What do you think would have happened to our world if we had surrendered to Voldemort without fighting him?"

"Huh?"

Alex sat back looking at them expectantly, waiting for an answer. Finally it was Hannah Longbottom who answered him, "He would have killed all the half-bloods and the muggle-born, Alex and then the other magical species like goblins. Then he would have moved onto the muggle world and killed everyone and everything in it"

Alex laughed softly at the answer and replied, "Please, Hannah, don't give the stereotype answer every so-called light witch and wizard would give. That was stupid and even you know it. Do you think Voldemort would have killed everyone? Then who would he rule over? You are thinking about Voldemort as a nothing but a blood-thirsty animal. Please remember that, dark lord or not, he was one of the greatest wizards of all time and had, perhaps, the best brains ever."

Whatever they were expecting, none of the people around Alex expected him to defend his greatest enemy.

"Why wouldn't he kill half-bloods and muggle-borns, Alex?", questioned Simon, his brother-in-law.

This time it was Neville Longbottom who answered, "He wouldn't have wanted any precious magical blood to be wasted. He would have preferred to have everyone from muggles to goblins to wizards to exist below him so that he could be their master and ruler."

"Right in one, Nev", Alex grinned at his long-time friend and continued from where Neville left off. "He would be the master of the whole world and everyone would be beneath him but apart from that there wouldn't have been anything too different. In fact, that is what he wanted – to be the Master of the world. Now, onto the next question, why did we fight for so long and loose so many lives when we could have simply surrender to him and avoided all the meaningless bloodshed?"

"How can you even suggest that, Alexander Charles Potter!", screeched Hermione, "I accept that the logic that he would have stopped killing if everyone surrendered but how could everything else be the same? We would have been slaves. Slaves to him and whoever supported him in the first place. We wouldn't have had the rights we enjoy now, if we are still under him. We would be treated as second rate citizens. No, we would be treated like how the purebloods used to treat the house-elves"

"Are you saying that things were different before Voldemort rose again?", countered Alex. "Tell me, Hermione, how many times were you called a mudblood in the first four years of our school? Voldemort wasn't even active and so-called peace existed but how many times were those offenders punished for degrading your ancestry? Tonks, what job did our government or anyone who knew his condition give someone as talented as Remus? How did the British wizards treat you because you were a part-veela, Fleur? How many times did the Hogwarts teachers chastise those who picked on you when we were first years, Nev? Has Professor Sprout told off anyone when they mocked and bad-mouthed the hufflepuffs, Hannah? How many times did Dumbledore put a stop to Snape harrassing students, Andrew?"

Each and every one of the mentioned people pondered about what they were asked. Eventually Hermione answered, "Yes, Alex. I agree that things were a bit harsh back then but things started changing when you defeated him"

Alex smirked at her and questioned her back, "Is that so, Hermione? Did things start changing after the defeat of Voldemort or the death of Harry?"

Even as he saw the wheels turning in their heads, Alex plowed on, "No need to think hard, guys. It was after Harry's death."

"What has this got to do with Harry?", questioned Evelyn with a frown marring her features.

Alex's expression softened for a minute as he replied, "It has everything to do with Harry, because he was one of the very few who really understood what the two wars with Voldemort were all about."

"Well, what was it all about? What did he realise that the rest of us could never figure out?"

Alex replied in a soft tone, "He realised that the war that Voldemort was waging on the magical world, was neither about Blood Supremacy nor about Voldemort's thirst of power. It was simply the battle of egos of two wizards – Voldemort and Dumbledore"

"Explain", everyone demanded at once simultaneously. It would have been funny to see identical expressions on all their faces but no one noticed because they were dreading what Alex was going to say next.

"Voldemort never truly craved about 'absolute power', as everyone imagines. After all with his immense knowledge, abnormal magical prowess and his horcruxes, he already had everything he needed. He was truly charming, smart and charismatic that he could have had everything else handed over to him without exerting himself. He could have legitimately and legally won '_the power over the people_' that you say he wanted, similar to what I have today. Have you ever wondered why, for his cunning and brilliant mind, Voldemort never tried to take over the magical world through proper channels? Why he became a dark lord and tried to win something he could have easily obtained by becoming like, say the Minister of Magic?"

Not waiting for a response, Alex continued, "The answer is he did. Voldemort's intentions were never about genocide. He truly wanted to earn everything he wanted by fighting in the political arena, at least early in his life. But every attempt of his to enter the politics was barred by the one who held the key to that power – Dumbledore, who refused share the power he held over Britain with him."

"Alex, Professor Dumbledore never craved for power. He was called upon numerous times to take the post of Minister of Magic. But he refused everytime because he was content with where he was, being the headmaster of Hogwarts.", lectured Hermione.

"Is that so?", Alex asked in a mocking tone surprising everyone. "He never wanted any power in the magical government, did he? Tell me then, Hermione, why he held on to the post of the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, the second most important post in our government, for so long? Or an influential position in the International Confederation of Wizards? Why did he want the post of the headmaster of the biggest Magical school in Britain where he influenced the minds of generations of witches and wizards? He refused only the post of the Minister but he held several other positions of power."

"Thats what Voldemort wanted. Dumbledore had everything he dreamed of. Tom Riddle wanted to be the most powerful person in the Wizengamot, to be respected in the ICW. He wanted the public to look at him as their leader. He never cared for blood supremacy. In other words, he wanted to be the next Albus Dumbledore. He could have done it too. He could have been the brilliant half-blood Tom Riddle, the greatest Minister of Magic of all times and the world would have never needed to see the evil that was Lord Voldemort. But Albus Dumbledore's ego wouldn't let him even fight for what he wanted. Believe me, when I say he tried everything he could, but Dumbledore made sure that Tom Riddle was forced to flee Britain as soon as possible. All the hogwash about Tom Riddle content working in Borgin and Burke's that Dumbledore spouted was a cover-up."

"Tom Riddle didn't go to work at Borgin and Burke right after graduation as Dumbledore implied. After all, a wizard of his calibre had opportunities lined up for him even before he graduated. Tom Riddle, like Albus Dumbledore, was the British Youth Representative to the Wizengamot. It must have been a dream come-true for Tom – a chance to attain the glory he envisioned. His stay in the Wizengamot was brief – eleven months. But from what little Harry told me, I'd say he was very successful – as if he was on the way to becoming the minister of magic in the next twenty or so years. He had very many allies in those hallowed halls who were attracted by his charisma. Naturally he had adversaries who didn't like someone like Tom rising fast amongst their ranks. But Dumbledore did something – meddled in something he shouldn't have because it gave Tom's adversaries a chance to get rid of him. All of a sudden Tom lost all his allies in the Wizengamot in a single night and evicted from the Wizengamot for misconduct or some bullshit. Tom found that not only did he lose his post but also lost the ability to find a decent job – especially within the ministry. That's how Tom came to work at Borgin and Burke's – because he couldn't find any other job. The Wizengamot and the public forgot about him in a couple of months but the desperation of not being able to fight for what he wanted was the reason why Tom Riddle fully gave way to the murderous Lord Voldemort."

Rosalyn intervened, "You are saying that Professor Dumbledore should have let Tom Riddle become the bloody Minister of Magic? Alex, he was a multiple murderer even before he got out of school. He killed his own father and grandparents and framed his uncle for it. He killed Myrtle when he was sixteen? He deserved to be chucked in Azkaban. Even if Professor Dumbledore did something like you implied, then I'd agree with him."

"Then why didn't Dumbledore go all out? Why didn't he push the government for Tom Riddle to be investigated when Myrtle was killed? Dumbledore didn't want Tom to be convicted, believe me. He was convinced that Tom would be able to '_see the light'_ eventually."

"I agree with you guys, Tom deserved to be in Azkaban for the murder of Myrtle but had Dumbledore recognized what he wanted and guided him properly, he could have turned out better. Instead of leaving him alone hoping he would redeem himself, Dumbledore could have put forth an effort to guide him to fully realise his potential in an entirely positive way. Instead of choosing to be his adversary, Dumbledore could have been his ally. When he found what was being done to Tom, Dumbledore could have swallowed his pride and supported him. Remember that when this happened Tom Riddle was only dreaming of being the Dark Lord Voldemort."

"Even when Dumbledore strongly suspected that Tom was responsible for Myrtle's death, he only saw an abused kid and a very brilliant student. A truly admirable sentiment. But when he found that Tom wanted to enter the world of politics, Dumbledore only saw the murderer of Myrtle Malone. I guess, Dumbledore panicked about what Tom would do when he succeeded in his pursuit. So, he made sure that Tom never had the chance to prove himself. That is the true nightmare of a very ambitious person, to be denied an opportunity to prove himself. That's what pushed Tom to abandon his true identity and embrace the identity of Lord Voldemort. From that point, I am guessing that Voldemort wanted to rule the world just to prove everyone that he could do it. But Dumbledore made sure that the news that his miscalculation was the reason for Voldemort's birth never got out. That's why Dumbledore made sure Lord Voldemort's true identity to never be revealed. He didn't want the biggest mistake of his life to be made public."

"You are right, he was a murderer already but he was an abused kid with no one to teach him what was right and what was wrong. He was bound to turn in that direction one way or the other with the kind of life he was forced into, early in his life. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have felt the need to kill his way to the top if he had got the chance he wanted. If that had happened then there was no reason for thousands of deaths and countless lives ruined. After all it isn't a crime to have ambitions."

"Anyways back to Harry," Alex changed the topic abruptly, "would you believe me if I said that Dumbledore made the same mistake twice? That he did the same with Harry? That unknown to the rest of the world, even for those involved, the war was a battle of not two egos but three?"

The crowd that was observing him with their mouths open couldn't form a reply. Getting no reply, Alex grinned and continued, "Dumbledore was afraid of Harry more than he was ever afraid of Tom Riddle. Tom Marvolo Riddle and Harold James Potter were so alike in so many ways that Dumbledore couldn't help but feel that history was repeating itself. Both of them were brilliant beyond imagination – prodigies in many fields of magic and ambitious to boot. Both of them were charming and charismatic and had the capability to have the crowd eating out of their hands. And both of them were interested in politics. But where Tom Riddle lacked, Harry Potter flourished. Harry had the money, fame and resources that poor orphan Tom Riddle couldn't afford."

"So for the second time in his life, for the greater good of the wizarding world, Albus Dumbledore worked behind the scenes to make sure that Harry Potter would never earn the fame he deserved. Dumbledore isolated Harry to make sure he didn't turn out like Tom. But what Dumbledore failed to understand was, Harry wasn't the least interested in anything like that until Dumbledore really started to bother him with his plots. It was Dumbledore's machinations that pushed Harry to participate."

"And how are we supposed to believe this? What proof can you give us?", asked a sceptical Evelyn not wanting to believe anything Alex was saying.

"Do you know guys that at one point of time Harry was powerful enough to defeat Voldemort on his own? Without ANYONE'S help? This was way before I was up to Voldemort's level. Harry would have defeated him, had Dumbledore resisted from making sure that that confrontation never happened."

"But the prophecy-?"

"-wouldn't have mattered", interrupted Alex, "The prophecy resolved itself only because Dumbledore wanted to use that to bolster my own fame and my ascension to the leadership of the magical world, something that Dumbledore thought should go to me after him. Dumbledore worked furiously to make sure that Harry never had the chance to cross wands with Voldemort because he knew Harry could've stopped Voldemort and that would have made Harry the most popular person"

Everyone started to think about what was being said. They could believe bits and pieces of what Alex was saying. After all, it was no news to them that Harry Potter was a powerful wizard and a magical prodigy.

Hermione breached the silence once more, "So since you are now the de facto leader of Wizarding Britain, I take it Professor Dumbledore won the battle of egos?" Her tone suggested that she did not believe a word of what he was telling but was curious to find the rest.

Alex's face broke into a wicked grin as he replied, "Do you think so, Hermione? Do you think Harry's friends called him The King for no reason?"

Before anyone could speculate what he was trying to say, Alex continued, "Tonks, you asked why Harry murdered nineteen people. But the question should have been **how many people did Harry kill**? _Or to phrase it even better, just how many crimes did Harry commit?_ How many crimes went unsolved because the wizarding world was hasty in dealing with a convict?"

With that declaration, Alex took a sip from his glass and looked at Tonks expectantly. Tonks, unable to stand the tension, snapped, "WELL?"

Alex answered solemnly, "The world knew about the dark lord Voldemort but no one knew that there was another dark lord who co-existed at the same time. One by the name of Harold James Potter whose crimes were inadvertently thought to be Voldemort's. He was convicted for nineteen murders, as we all know, but he was directly responsible for the death of hundreds of witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, goblins. He was involved in countless cases of bribery, kidnapping, extortion, torture, blackmail... well you get the idea. He was guilty of manipulating and bribing politicians throughout Europe and influencing governments to do his bidding. In short, I'd guess his crime list was second only to Voldemort himself."

Alex took a sip of his drink, allowing the alcohol to lull his senses and looked expectantly at the others. Seeing their stunned expressions, Alex continued, "It's just that no one ever found out that he was responsible for those crimes or he took care of whoever figured it out. Those who were aware of his actions were oath-bound to secrecy or didn't verbalise their concerns since they understood that the ends justified the means. Even most of his testimony to the Wizengamot was not made public since it would have devastated the magical society, as we know it. I know that it was heavily edited on the Orders of the Wizengamot, before it was filed for the eyes of the aurors."

The only sound in the room was the clock ticking as the crowd sitting around Alex was dumbstruck at the revelation. Expressions ranged from shock to horror in a couple of cases, especially on the faces of his siblings. Fleur was sitting as still as a statue with her mouth slightly open in shock. After a couple of minutes of silence, Tonks screamed, "**WHAT THE... ? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ALEXANDER CHARLES POTTER? HOW THE HELL COULD YOU COMPARE HARRY TO THAT MONSTER? FIRST YOU SAY DUMBLEDORE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RISE OF VOLDEMORT AND NOW THIS? HOW COULD ALL THESE CRIMES BE BURIED FOR YEARS? HOW COME NO ONE EVER FOUND OUT ANYTHING? HOW IS ALL THIS EVEN POSSIBLE? YOU KNOW ITS IMPOSSIBLE. NOT POSSIBLE AT ALL. YOU ARE LYING. IT HAS TO BE.. **it has to be... ", she trailed off in horror not wanting to accept what Alex was saying.

Evelyn asked in a whisper, "Are you telling the truth, Alex?"

Alex took another sip from his glass and answered in a very quiet tone, "Yes, I am telling the truth. He did all that I told you and probably more."

"Why, Alex? Why did he do that?", Rosalyn asked in a broken whisper still unable to digest what Alex had just said.

"For the secret he held, Rose. The secrets behind the legend of Alex Potter and his ascension to power. The story of the baby and then the man who defeated the greatest dark lord of all time twice and went on to become the biggest political force in England." Seeing the questions in everyone's eyes, Alex continued, "Yes. My entire life has been staged by Dumbledore right from that wretched Halloween's day. Anyone who realised, never voiced their concerns. But Harry knew what Dumbledore was doing. He predicted that whatever Dumbledore was doing, was not going to work, or at least it wouldn't work perfectly. So Harry defied Dumbledore and forged a lone war against everyone to save England from falling to darkness. He saved me from a fate that I didn't want and helped me make my own choices. The political scenario we have today is his masterpiece, Hermione. Power shared equally amongst all witches and wizards."

Rosalyn whose eyes were wide from the moment Alex started talking, chocked out, "Why? Why did he defy Dumbledore? What did he get out of it?"

"Because he loved us, Rosie. He loved all of us - his family, his friends, more than you can even imagine. He loved us so much that he was willing to carve a bloody path throughout Europe to make sure we didn't have to face anymore dangers than what we were already doing."

"He loved us? He never acted like he did, Alex. I still remember his voice proclaiming his hatred for us before his execution. What you say, doesn't sound like the Harry we saw on his last days."

"**THATS BECAUSE THATS WHAT HE WANTED YOU TO THINK."**, roared Alex,** "HE FOOLED US ALL – YOU, ME AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE ELSE, ROSALYN. HE MADE US BELIEVE WHAT WE SAW AND HE MADE A DAMN GOOD JOB ABOUT IT. VERY, VERY FEW PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD KNEW THE TRUE HARRY JAMES POTTER AND NONE OF YOU ARE THEM."**

Seeing the dumbstruck faces on his family and friends, Alex sighed and started talking in his calm tone again, "He let everyone see what we wanted to see. A real jerk to a few of us. A loyal friend to hundreds of people. To strangers he was a charismatic, charming and successful young man. Very, very few people knew the REAL Harry James Potter. I was lucky enough to be one of them. And your father, Fleur, was one amongst the lucky ones."

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Alex continued, "We are talking about the cleverest Wizard I've ever known, in some ways more so than Dumbledore and Voldemort combined. After all, he managed to fool both of them till the time of his choosing."

"He was also one of the most brilliant businessmen I've ever known. The money he earned, the millions he left through his businesses, the ones you were wondering about, Hermione, were what helped us in reconstructing the Magical world after Voldemort was defeated."

The room was in deep silence as the people contemplated what Alex was saying. Expressions of shock were deepening on the faces of the gathered.

Alex, however, was not finished. He continued in a solemn tone, "And, of course, he was the only one I ever admired and feared at the same time, more so than Dumbledore and Voldemort combined. He was both my idol and my worst nightmare. In fact, I still have nightmares about what would have happened if Dumbledore had succeeded in driving Harry into the Lord Voldemort's ranks. He was the only one who scared me, even after I embraced my true potential. He was the one I set my standards on. And he is the only one, I owe more than one life debt to. Also, I knew why, how and what exactly he did to Malfoy and those memories will forever be etched in my memory. Let me tell you, he made Voldemort look benign, merciful. I know for a fact that even Voldemort had second thoughts about confronting or antagonising him."

Hermione found her voice after impersonating a fish out of water for a few minutes, "Your idol? But you acted as if Dumbledore-?"

Alex smiled as he replied, "Yes, Hermione I ACTED as if Dumbledore was my idol. I lost my admiration for Dumbledore after my fifth year at Hogwarts. If I had followed Dumbledore's plan, then there would have been ten times the loss of human life than what we suffered during the war. I would have respected Voldemort for his abilities if he hadn't murdered innocents. Harry was the only one in their category whom I didn't resent or hate. He was the only one whom I stood aside and admired for his abilities and the effort he put into reaching his limits and pushing beyond it."

Hermione came up with a come-back, "But you yourself said he killed hundreds of people, Alex. How is that different from Voldemort?"

"Thats because he never murdered innocents, Hermione", Alex answered in a calm voice, "He manipulated, stole from, kidnapped and killed the worst criminals of Europe, even the nineteen he was convicted against were the scum of the wizarding world."

After a moment of silence, Alex broke the silence. "He was the greatest wizard of our generation, in my eyes anyways, without whom there would have been a LOT more deaths before Voldemort was killed. Heck, if he hadn't opposed Dumbledore's plans, _**I**_ would've died for sure and I'm not sure about the rest of you in this room. He neutralized several threats that you guys never even knew existed. In a way, he did more for our side in the second war than anyone else, more than me or Dumbledore but no one will ever know or acknowledge it. People will always think of him as the mole in the Potter family but not a decorated war hero as he should be. And I can't correct anyone, no matter how badly I want to, because no matter how good the results were for the betterment of our society, most people will say his actions were a crime and no one will accept that it was a necessary evil. If that happens, all of his efforts and sacrifices would become useless. That's why his history has been a close-guarded secret by everyone who knows. That's why he lost his life. To make sure the fairy tale legend of Alexander Charles Potter grew as he wanted."

Looking at the crowd sitting around him, Alex watched the emotions vary from face to face from apprehension to disbelief to horror in some cases. Steeling himself, Alex continued, "As I told you earlier, Hermione, Harry was the one who won in the end. You see I was what Voldemort, Dumbledore and Harry were fighting over. Me, Alexander Charles Potter, the boy-who-lived, for the power of influence I held over the general public. Dumbledore groomed me to be his eventual replacement. Voldemort wanted this power of influence on his side just to rub it in Dumbledore's face. But Harry wanted me to use this power of influence to bring about a revolution. One where every single witch or wizard has a say in what the government does, irrespective of blood status or money. Look around you now and you will find that Harry's dream is slowly but surely coming into reality."

After a couple of minutes of silence to help them digest the information given to them, Alex started, "You guys have done wonderfully learning all about Harry with whatever resources you had and have made a character dissection. Yet you come up with lots of leads and nothing concrete. I agree this is the maximum you could find out about him from the people who are still living or accessible to you. That and Harry covered his tracks in more ways than you could possibly imagine. I will get to that later."

"Yet you guys made a fundamental error in your investigation. You started with the wrong guy. You should have made a detailed study about someone else before taking Harry's case. Then a lot of Harry's actions would've made sense. I am, of course, talking about Sirius Black."


	5. Birth of a King

**THE KING**

**By**

**Seraph Orion Black**

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Harry Potter – storyline, characters or pretty much anything that earned JKR millions. I am merely twisting her story to how I see fit._

_**AUTHOR'S NOTICE: **__Sorry about the delay in updating. I have been busy with my studies and stuff and I didn't find time to finish this chapter in time. _

_The last four chapters have been sort of like an extended very, very long prologue. The story properly begins from this point. There is no narration by anyone from hereon._

_This chapter starts sometime after Halloween 1981. Harry's grandfather and grandmother lost their lives to Voldemort and Alex became the boy-who-lived. Harry is roughly five years old._

_Harry, in this fic, is more or less the exact opposite of his canon counterpart. Here, Harry will be lying, cheating, fun-loving, crowd-pleasing, womanising genius with his very own flexible set of morals. One thing I wish to clear is that I am not branding Harry as either light or dark. Not even neutral since that would mean he is neither light nor dark. Let's just assume he falls out of all these categories. He is an extremely volatile person who would do absolutely ANYTHING as long he gets what he wants. _

_The following couple of chapters, I write just to make sure Harry's genius and mindset are justified properly. I don't want Harry to find out he is the most powerful wizard on the first day of school._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter – 6**

_**From the Diary of Arcturus Black**_

_**3**__**rd**__** of May, 1973**_

_Yet another day has passed and my son Orion seems to distance himself and his sons Sirius and Regulus from me more and more. Perhaps he believes that I am getting senile with age and sickness, while I am only in the danger of going senile due to the loneliness I suffer._

_The Daily Prophet once again reports about this new Dark Lord who seems to be causing more and more trouble to our world. Orion and his wife Walburga believe he will lead the wizarding world back to its days of glory when purebloods ruled and mudbloods and muggle-filth knew their place. But I am growing more and more concerned as each day passes. Blood-traitors they may be, the McKinnon's were an ancient pureblood family and this 'dark lord' seemed to have no concern for them with the way he had the entire family killed. I am afraid that this Lord Voldemort may have ulterior motives that he has been achieving by making fools out of us, the purebloods. _

_When I voiced my concerns to my son Orion, he dismissed them as the ramblings of a dying fool. Even my own grandsons don't pay any attention to me anymore, though for different reasons. Regulus Arcturus is growing up to be the perfect Black heir in Orion and Walburga's eyes, fulfilling every expectation that the family sets for him. He thinks what Orion and Walburga say about pureblood supremacy is the absolute truth. Orion's heir, Sirius, meanwhile, is trying everything he can to make the lives of every living Black as miserable as possible, consorting with blood-traitors and mudbloods, thinking that all of us Blacks are savages who thrive on torturing and killing muggles. How wrong they both are. I wish I could teach them about the 'Most Ancient and Noble house of Black' and the prestige our family name held before my brothers and cousins sullied it by aligning with savages who know nothing about power. But alas, no one else has the time to listen to an old man like myself._

_And the once proud institution that was the British Ministry of Magic has fallen into the hands of incompetent fools. Who would have thought a simpering toad like Millicent Bagnold would be made the Minister. And I hear rumours about Dumbledore pushing his pet project Cornelius Fudge to be made the Head of the Department of International Magical Co-Operation. Trolls could do a better job than him, I say._

_I still wonder if our choice of Cornelius Fudge over Tom Riddle for the open position in the Wizengamot Judicial Committee was good. It may have been twenty five years since I last saw him after that horrible session at the Wizengamot, but I still remember him vividly. Bright young man, he was, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Charming, intelligent and had proper aspirations – just how a pureblood lord should be. There were rumours that he was the heir of Salazar Slytherin himself. I was so sure that it would be the start to one of the most illustrious careers in politics one could ever witness. I even planned to offer my daughter Lucretia's hand to Tom in marriage – something that would have been beneficial to both Orion and Tom, being brothers-in-law._

_But then the rumors started coming in about young Tom that he was a mudblood-sympathesiser himself; that he was the secret protégé of Dumbledore; that he was the one the muggle-lover set to fool us - purebloods, and increase the support of mudbloods in the Wizengamot. Abraxas Malfoy and Marius Nott wanted Fudge to take the post because he was a pureblood and not Tom, since he was a halfblood. Twenty years have passed since then and I am sure Abraxas and Marius would roll in their graves if they found how foolish their choice has been. _

_I should have thought twice when I found old man Dumbledore making speeches supporting young Tom in pureblood gatherings, making our suspicions grow. But Fudge, who won the prestigious post, has been more or less Dumbledore's puppet since his election despite being a pureblood himself. It makes me wonder if those rumors about Tom were started by Dumbledore himself. Was it one of the brilliant moves by the old man to cause a rift between us and Tom, to make sure his puppet Fudge won? Did Dumbledore think Tom Riddle would be a hindrance to his vision of a world where mudbloods were given power over us, purebloods? Have we been made fools for the past twenty years? What else is Dumbledore planning with that bumbling fool Fudge?_

_I wish I had someone, anyone who would be able to stand up to these cowardly death eaters and their dark lord as well as the self-righteous light lord. My hopes for Orion or Regulus to oppose both are moot; they are far too entranced by the words of the dark lord to listen to family once again. And Sirius is swayed by the sweet words of the deceptive light-lord Dumbledore. Sirius hasn't realised that Dumbledore will plan to estrange him from the rest of the family and promote him as the scion of a pureblood house rooting for mudbloods. If only I could talk to Sirius about the truth behind both the light and the dark lords, then he might be able to salvage his brother and younger cousins from falling for the lies of the so-called dark lord. Alas, he is far too deep in Dumbledore's camp to listen to my words._

_I wonder where that young man, Tom Riddle, is right now..._

Arcturus Black, Sirius' grandfather died of failing health the next day.

* * *

**Potters' House **

**1****st**** December, 1981.**

Lily Potter was in a fix. Roughly a month ago, her parents-in-law died at the hands of the worst dark lord in the last six centuries. The said dark lord then fell, for reasons still unclear, while trying to kill her second born son. Little Alex was already the boy-who-lived and the entire Wizarding world was demanding their little hero to be paraded around and she didn't know how to handle them. She now had to take care of not only Alex all by herself but also the four month old twins, Rosalyn and Evelyn. On top of all these, she had found that she was now two months pregnant with her fifth child.

But for the moment, her biggest concern was her eldest son, Harry James Potter. He had always been a cheerful little tyke, always full of joy and laughter. But ever since the death of his grandparents, he had withdrawn himself into a shell, no longer smiling or laughing. Nowadays, he preferred to stay in his room, something he had never voluntarily done before. And she had no clue as to what was running through his little head.

She was startled out of her wits when she felt a small arm grab her. Looking down, she saw Harry standing there with tears shining in his eyes through his eyes. Feeling her heart tug at the sight of her son, Lily crouched down to look at her son and asked, "What is it, dear? What do you want?"

Harry scrunched up his face for a moment as if he was thinking very hard but eventually asked, "Mommy, why did that Voldie-fellow kill grandma and grandpa?"

Lily was absolutely torn at the question as she knew absolutely nothing about how to handle her son at this point. She would have preferred to tell him that they died of illness or something, but he had already overheard the adults about Voldemort murdering them and she didn't think she could convince him otherwise.

Lily sighed and replied in a way to convince him, "Because he was a very bad man, Harry. That is what bad men do"

"But… but how? Grandpa was the best wizard in the whole world. How could that stupid man beat grandpa?" asked Harry with his eyes wide in wonder.

"Yes, he was, Harry. But the bad man was also a very, very powerful wizard. Only someone more powerful could have defeated him."

"Stronger than grandpa? But, but what about you and daddy? Is he more powerful than you too?", Harry asked his eyes wide in fascination not able to believe that there was actually someone better than his grandfather.

"Yes, dear. He is more powerful than any of us. Only Albus Dumbledore is more powerful than him. But even he was having trouble defeating him. But you need not worry about him anymore, dear. He was defeated by your little brother, you know.", Lily said with a small smile thinking it could distract him from his current line of questioning.

Harry didn't reply but walked away deeply in thought. Lily watched Harry walk away; silently pondering about why she was feeling like a huge idiot at the moment.

* * *

**Back in his room**

Five year old Harry sat on his bed and gazed out of his window. But his mind was on something that his mother had said.

'_So, the Voldie-fellow was a very powerful wizard. Even Albie Dumbledore couldn't defeat him', _thought Harry_. 'But how did Alex defeat him? Is Alex more powerful than that Voldie-man and Dumbledore? But Alex is still a baby, my little brother. Mommy says he still poops in his sleep. He can't have defeated that Voldie-fellow.'_

A sudden idea derailed him from his current train of thought. _'If Alex, my baby-brother, is really the more powerful wizard than everyone else, then I, his big brother, will be the most powerful wizard in the whole world.' _While the reasoning may not make any sense to the adults, it was enough reason for five year old Harry to believe that he was the most powerful wizard of the world – like a king.

The thought excited Harry and he started spending more and more time day-dreaming about himself as the King of the Magical World, a fantasy he kept to himself. This train of thought seemed to bring him somewhat out of the depression caused by the death of his grandparents. As the days passed, both Lily and James were relieved to see Harry doing something or the other rather than mope around. Sadly, both of them were oblivious about what was running through their eldest son's head.

* * *

**Godric's Hollow**

**December 29****th**** 1981**

Harry woke up in the middle of the night, feeling very thirsty. Getting out of bed, he tiptoed out of his room not wanting to wake up anyone else in the house. He started down to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. When he was downstairs, he could see light coming out of the kitchen and hear voices. Harry relaxed when he heard his parents' voice but was intrigued when he heard an unfamiliar voice. Peeking through the small gap in the door, Harry recognised that the other person in the room was none other than Albus Dumbledore himself, having identified him from his chocolate card collection.

Curious about what they were saying, Harry hid in the niche right outside the kitchen and listened to what they were saying.

"…and finally I was able to get the Wizengamot to pass a legislation to prevent the press from hounding young Alex." he heard Albus Dumbledore say, "However, you both should give a press statement soon to satisfy the public and make a plea to let your son live a normal life. It is imperative that young Alex not be treated specially. Having such fame at such young age is enough to make anyone quite egoistic."

Hearing both the Potters' affirmative reply, Dumbledore continued about the ways to properly handle the boy-who-lived mostly about how to treat him as normally as possible. Dumbledore also talked about some of the death eaters who had escaped imprisonment and how they would want to harm Alex to avenge their fallen master. He warned the Potters to make sure Alex was always safe inside the wards of their residence.

After what seemed to be an eternity of talking about keeping Alex safely indoors, Dumbledore said, "Remember what I said, James, Lily. Lord Voldemort may have been defeated but he is by no means vanquished. He is not truly dead as the rest of the world believes. He has only been rendered without a physical body. He still exists in a spirit form, I'm sure. However, it is safe to let everyone assume that was the case so that we may have some peace to rebuild our depleted society to once again stand against him. One day he will return to finish what he started and the first ones to be targeted will be the one who rendered him powerless for so long. You should be prepared."

James and Lily nodded resolutely, determined to make sure that their family would survive through the next war also. Outside the kitchen, Harry was listening with wide eyes. He had been told that the bad-man had been defeated and he had assumed that he was dead but obviously that wasn't the case. Leaning in, he listened to what his mother was saying to Dumbledore.

"…Alex has not been difficult. It is Harry that I am worried about."

Harry immediately leaned in closer, wanting to know what his mother was saying about him.

"What seems to be the problem with little Harry, Lily?" asked the grandfatherly voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"He has withdrawn himself into a shell, Professor. He no longer seems to be the same cheerful Harry anymore. I think out of all of us, he is the one most affected by these events."

Harry listened to his mother and occasionally his father say something about how Harry was not himself these days to Dumbledore.

After listening for fifteen minutes of Lily explaining about Harry's sudden withdrawal, Dumbledore looked at the pair through his half-moon glasses as though he was looking into their very souls. With a pensive look on his face, he said, "Suffering the loss of loved ones so tragically, especially at such a young age could be very depressing. You will need to show him support and love to help him get past their deaths, Lily. After all, there is nothing more wondrous in this world than the healing power of love. Give him the time and attention he needs and he will be back to his old self."

James and Lily looked at each other for a long minute, silently communicating before Lily said, "There lies the problem, Professor. With so many children to take care of, I hardly have the time to attend to Harry's needs. I just can't seem to be able to find time to give him the attention he needs."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly at her words and asked, "That may be a problem. Very well, but why not you let someone else pay attention to his needs?"

"What do you mean, Professor?" asked Lily wondering what her former headmaster was trying to say.

"Don't take this wrong, Lily. You have too many children to care for to be able to provide Harry the attention he needs. If I am not wrong, you have a sister, don't you?"

"Yes" answered a still-confused Lily.

"Then why don't you send Harry to live with your sister and her husband?" Raising a hand to stall the protests that the two were about to make, he continued, "Harry, obviously, has too many bad memories of this place. It reminds him of his grandparents all the time. So why not let him stay with your sister for a while? I am not saying that he has to go there permanently but let him stay there for a few months. A change of surroundings may help him regain his former self."

Harry listened with rapt attention as both James and Lily protested saying how Petunia hated Lily and anything to do with magic. After a little while and a little persuasion from Dumbledore, Lily conceded that Petunia may have been horrible to her but she wouldn't be so horrible to her son. Her reasoning was that Petunia had a son nearly two years old and no mother would ever be horrible to another child especially her own nephew. Surprisingly, it was James who was most convinced that Petunia could never be polite to anyone that had anything to do with magic.

After several minutes of discussing, finally James said something that made the other two think. "Why Petunia? Why not Sirius? He is Harry's godfather and I think he must have some say in this matter?"

"James" Lily started softly, "No offence but Sirius isn't the most mature person around. I think Harry will need someone who will know how to handle him. I don't want _Harry_ to handle _Sirius_. And don't tell me that is not the case."

James looked amused for a moment but answered almost immediately. "I agree with you, Lils. Sirius isn't the most mature wizard. In fact he acts more like he is Harry's age. But you can't deny that Sirius adores Harry. As Professor Dumbledore said, Harry needs love and attention. Sirius can give him both. Sirius doesn't need to act maturely, Lils, because Harry doesn't need it. Harry needs to unwind now and what better way to get someone to laugh than be around Sirius?"

Harry ignored the rest of the conversation and sneaked back to his room as he was growing both tired and bored with all the adult discussion. As he got into bed, his mind was filled with a few new thoughts. First, the news that Voldemort wasn't dead as everyone said. Harry scoffed inwardly.

'_If it had been me that Voldie-fellow had tried to kill, then I would have destroyed him completely. Alex must not have been powerful enough to destroy the bad man. Well, when that bad man comes back, I will show them how to properly defeat bad men.'_

Harry sleepily remembered the adults discussing about his placement in the care of someone else. He had never met his aunt Petunia and he didn't like the idea of visiting her. However, the idea of hanging around his godfather made him happy. The boy adored his godfather and welcomed the idea of hanging out with him.

However, the one thing that attracted the attention of Harry was the way his parents listened to Dumbledore. He mused about why his parents obeyed everything Dumbledore said. Even though he was young, Harry knew his parents, especially his mother was fiercely independent. But to see her obey every word of Dumbledore fascinated the boy. His mind concluded what he wanted to believe. _Everyone, even my own parents, obey very powerful wizards like myself._

However, just as he was about to fall back asleep, another horrible thought entered his mind. _'I don't know any spells. How am I going to be the best wizard if I can't do any spells? Very well, I will have to start learning from tomorrow.'_

**Meanwhile**

Albus Dumbledore apparated out of the Potter home in Godric's Hollow. As he started walking towards Hogwarts from Hogsmeade, Dumbledore thought back about his visit to the Potter family. He was satisfied with the way James and Lily agreed to raise Alex as normal as possible. Albus sighed as he thought about the long road the boy-who-lived had in front of him, if he were to defeat Lord Voldemort according to the prophecy.

The boy-who-lived, Alex, was going to be a powerful wizard in the future. He had to be to defeat Voldemort when he rose again. But the real reason Dumbledore was thinking furiously concerning the young Alex Potter was that he had to make sure the boy was brought up to be a perfect saviour so that once Dumbledore passed away, he could claim his place and lead the wizarding world to peace. Dumbledore was an avid believer that the wizarding populace of Britain was made of lazy sheep and that they would ALWAYS need someone to guide them. For the past thirty five to forty years, Albus has been doing that from the shadows, in his capacity as the headmaster of the most prestigious magical school in Britain and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, both positions giving him a chance to influence the public.

In reality, there were two groups of people in Britain – those who trusted him and accepted him as their leader and followed his decisions because they believed he always did what was right, and the other the rich pureblood who were always wary of his methods but afraid of confronting him because of his power and position not to mention the fame he had with the general population.

For the past ten or so years, Albus has faced one problem. He knew he was growing old with each passing day and he would soon be starting his _'next great adventure'. _What would the wizarding world do when he finally died and who would they turn to in case of a crisis. He had always tried to find someone who would one day become his protégé and when the time came, he or she would take over his role and rule the wizarding world from the shadows. He had, over the years, silently assessed hundreds of witches and wizards but none of them were able to meet his expectations. Those who had the fame tried to use it for their own good. Those who had power and knowledge were corrupted by it. Albus never had a family and had no relatives except his brother that he could delegate the task to.

When he found that Voldemort had fallen trying to kill a fifteen month old child, he was hit by an inspiration. If he couldn't find a successor he could very well build one. He could have this child raised as per his expectations and when he was ready, he would take up the mantle from Albus himself. The child was powerful, of that there was no doubt. He was already famous and would be even more famous when he finally defeated Voldemort according to the prophecy. Yes, he decided, Alex Potter was going to be his protégé and successor.

When Albus' thought came back to Alex's elder brother Harry, he felt guilt and regret overcome him. Albus had exactly known when young Harry had appeared just outside the kitchen during his recently concluded meeting with the Potters. After all, it was a subtle wave of his own wand that had originally waken up the boy and made him think that he wanted a glass of water. Albus knew Harry had listened to the entire conversation because he wanted him to.

'_James, Lily and Harry would abhor me if they ever find out what I was doing. But I need Harry to know these things. He needs to learn about the war early in his life if he is to become the wizard that can protect the wizarding world's saviour after my time. Forcing a child to prepare for war at this early age is an inexcusable crime. However, this is only a minor offense I've done today. I've given the boy the nudge and won him the space he needs to do what he has to do. Now, it's all up to young Harry to decide what he wishes to do with the information he has. From now on, I shall only 'accidentally' pass sensitive information that he can use in whatever way he sees fit. I really hate myself for putting a child in such a position but it is really necessary if young Alex should have any hope of defeating Voldemort. I swear to myself that I will make it up to Harry when this whole mess is over.'_

Dumbledore decided that he would never directly manipulate young Harry but continue to give him bits and pieces of information _accidently_ and the required motivation for him to do what he, Albus Dumbledore, wanted – to be the protector of the boy-who-lived – and today was just the beginning. However, he would never realise that, whatever he intended to with Harry eavesdropping the conversation, would never happen since young Harry had already started building a path for himself. A path Albus Dumbledore would be horrified when he learned about it.

**London **

**March 1982**

Sirius Black never thought he would ever make an effort to see his one-time girlfriend Sarah West. Sadly, she was the only muggle psychologist he knew that dealt with children more often than adults. Her being a squib made her even more valuable to solving his problem. Currently, his problem was at the other end of the room looking curiously at tomes about several topics which he couldn't even spell. Five year old Harry James Potter was staring intently at the nice lady's bookshelf since it had so many nice books and he was wondering if she would let him see some of them. Even Harry knew he wouldn't be able to understand anything, having started to read only a year ago but that didn't stop him from wanting to go through each and every one of them.

Sirius Black had been given the unofficial guardianship of Harry a couple of months ago, after James and Lily had explained to him about how Harry needed an adult in his life that could give him all the attention he needed. Needless to say, both infants – one five-year old and another five-and-twenty year old – were ecstatic with the arrangement.

Sirius gave an exasperated sigh and started, "You see what my predicament is now, Sarah? It's not a bad thing to be interested in learning, as much as I hate to admit it. In fact I am somewhat happy that my godson is going to be a genius one day with the amount of interest he is showing but this level of obsession with books is simply ridiculous. He is not even interested in pranks anymore, goddamnit"

Sarah West rolled her eyes at Sirius and said, "Obsession with learning is not necessarily a bad thing, Black. I assessed Harry with the hour I spent with him. I got him to open up a bit to me and what I found is hardly surprising. He considers himself to be the most powerful wizard in the world and wants to live up to it – a regular fantasy for boys his age. That is the reason he is so fascinated by books since he feels upset about not knowing any spells. Tell me; was he close to his grandparents?"

Sirius Black ducked down and answered in a wistful tone, "Saying yes would be an understatement, Sarah. That boy loved his grandparents more than he loved his own parents. Harry was their first grandson and they too showered him with love and attention." Looking up and into the eyes of the woman in front of her, he asked, "You think their loss has something to do with his sudden change in behaviour?"

The young woman smiled a little and replied, "Yes, it has everything to do with his assumption that he is a very powerful wizard. It is his way of grieving for his grandparents. Especially since their death wasn't natural."

Looking at Sirius' confused expression, Sarah continued, "Adult psychology is very different from a child's, Sirius. Especially someone of Harry's age. Had he been younger, then his memory of them wouldn't be so vivid and he wouldn't have been affected so much. Had he been a little older say ten or twelve, we could have had counselling sessions to let him work through his grief. The problem is, Harry is at his formative age and since his brain couldn't handle the fact that his grandparents were killed by a very powerful wizard, it is directing him in a different way."

Sirius' confusion was evident on his face as he said, "That doesn't make any sense to me."

"Exactly the point I'm trying to make", replied the psychiatrist, "The decisions made by adults are usually swayed by either logic or emotion. But the developing mindset of children is unique because they have not yet been exposed to intense emotions or cold logic. Hence, it is very accepting to certain… fantasies, which most adults consider to be foolish."

Sirius was deep in thought for some time, a sight which was highly unusual since he was the epitome of _'don't think just leap'_ ideology. After a minute or two, Sirius broke the uncomfortable silence by asking, "So what needs to be done now? Does he need some sort of counselling or something?"

The smile on Sarah's face disappeared and was replaced by a scowl directed right at Sirius that made him cringe and wonder what he had said. "Why would he need counselling sessions, Black? Your godson is not sick nor is he mentally imbalanced". Seeing Sirius calm down visibly at her words, she continued in the same harsh tone, "He is perfectly normal. It's not as if his obsession with learning is a bad thing. If you were so worried for your godson then you should have paid more attention to him right after the incident and he could have found another way to vent his grief. Fortunately for you, one cannot ask for a better way to vent his grief than let him on his own path."

"So I should let him obsess over books and learning?" asked Sirius in a meek tone still cowed by her harsh glare.

"His mind gets over the grief of the loss of his grandparents by busying itself with learning and dreaming about being the most powerful wizard in the whole world. The only way you can help your godson is to help him achieve his dream. Encourage him and teach him whatever he asks for. Give him new challenges to overcome. Let him know what he needs to do to be successful. People may say that you have to be born powerful but I disagree. If he works in the way that I predict he will, then his dream is definitely a possible one. He is going to be a prodigy."

"So my godson is going to become a magical prodigy to get over the death of his grandparents?" asked Sirius with curiosity evident in his features.

"Yes… in a way at least. Your godson is not going to become a genius all of a sudden because of the loss of his grandparents. Harry is going to be a genius because of the effort he is going to put into his work; the effort being his way of grieving his grandparents now and would eventually become a habit later so that such a thing would be normal for him."

Sirius nodded relief evident in his face but before he could say anything, Sarah continued, "That being said, he is indeed in a very important phase of his life. Whatever he learns now will be with him forever. So be very careful in dealing with him. Whatever you do, don't ever stand in his way. A child's mind is quite fragile at this age and the traumatic events have left behind… some mental scars… which may or may not heal. I do not want anyone to mess with his mind. Especially by impeding his dreams. Whatever you do, never, ever discourage him. That is the main reason I'm asking you not to take him to any other psychologist. The morons who call themselves experts would treat him like an adult and advise you that he could be _re-educated_ with counselling. That is something that should never happen."

"Why? What will it do?" Sirius asked, feeling very nervous all of a sudden.

Sarah struggled for a couple of minutes to find the right words but eventually took a deep breath and said, "Your godson may be mentally stable right now but any of that negative re-enforcement about his dreams and ambitions may prove dangerous to downright catastrophic. It could block the vent for his emotions and make him bottle up everything until his fragile mind cannot hold anymore and he will snap. There is a small possibility that he may end up chronically psychotic."

Seeing the look of horror in the rapidly paling face of Sirius, Dr. West continued hastily, "Like I said, only if he is pushed too much in the direction he doesn't want to go. I said that only to warn you of the remote possibility. As long as he is left alone to his devices, he will be perfectly normal."

Sirius nodded, his face still very pale, and asked in a very nervous tone, "Is there anything else I should know about? Like, what to say to encourage him? How to give him new challenges? That sort of stuff"

Sarah nodded absent-mindedly and answered, "Yes, it is better off that I tell you what to do than let you figure out on your own. THAT would be a disaster." Ignoring the offended look in his face, she continued, "Get him interested in some extra-curricular activities like, I don't know, music? Painting? Sports, perhaps? Find out what he likes."

"But he is only interested in learning magic, Sarah", whined Sirius, "As I said, he is not even interested in pranking Remus anymore. How am I supposed to get him interested in something else when all he wants to do is read?"

Sarah rolled her eyes at Sirius' complaint and said, "Little Harry thinks he is a king, Sirius. So make him one. Tell him that knowing spells is not enough to be called the King. That a King should be a prodigy in not only his magic but also in all sorts of things like sports et cetera. With your fascination for quidditch, I don't think it would be a problem to get him to play. Take him out to meet children his own age. He will not want to. If he says he doesn't want to, then tell him that a King should be friendly and sociable to everyone. With the drive that he currently has, he will be successful in everything he does."

Seeing Sirius' pensive look, Sarah said one last thing, "Bring him to see me, every once in a while, Black. I would like to have regular periodical assessment."

Later that night, Sirius Black was sitting by the fire with a glass of rum in his hand, lost in his own thoughts. His mind was full of Dr. Sarah West's words.

'_He is going to be a prodigy.'_

'…_negative re-enforcement… …chronically psychotic.'_

'_He wants to be a king. Make him one.'_

Sirius vowed to himself that he would do whatever it was necessary to make sure his godson was happy. Even if it meant that he would have to hide the news of their visit to Dr. West from James and Lily. Something he felt was necessary, to keep Albus Dumbledore from digging his claws into his godson.


	6. A Betrayal out of Necessity

**The King**

**By**

**Seraph Orion Black**

**DISCLAIMER:** ALL THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, THE WIZARDING WORLD AND THE CANON PLOT BELONG TO J., BLOOMSBURY ETC, **NOT ME**. THE IDEA OF AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE _HARRY'S-FAMILY-IS-ALIVE-AND-HE-HAS-SEVERAL-SIBLINGS_ OR WHERE _HARRY-IS-NOT-THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED_ DOESN'T BELONG TO ME EITHER. I DO NOT KNOW WHO DOES. I have tried to keep my characters and plot as original as possible. But I cannot help it when I am influenced by some fics that have impressed me. There maybe thousands of fics similar to my own and it is an inevitable fact that my story shares similar ideas from several others. If someone finds that I've used one of their characters or plots or whatever it maybe, _**it is completely unintentional and I apologise. **_

**Author's Note: **I have received some complaints about the spelling and grammatical errors in my story. From here on, I will try to minimise these errors as much as I can. I am trying to find a good beta reader, so if anyone is interested, please say so in the review area.

**Author's Note: **Sirius' character in this fic will be very different from the canon. Sirius Black was my favourite character in the series and I have always believed that his character had huge potential but he was terribly underused in the canon especially in GoF and OoTP. I have felt that Rowling's depiction of Sirius left a whole lot of things unsaid. Sirius' characterisation in this fic is how I imagine he would be if he had not had to suffer his friends' death, a betrayal and Azkaban.

I would also like to apologise for the delay in updating. I could give probably a hundred excuses from Exams to health issues to personal problems or whatever. But they would all be lies. The truth is I've been lazy and spent the last three months doing nothing. I finished this chapter at about 200 words a week. Please review.

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

**A BETRAYAL OUT OF NECESSITY**

**Sirius' Apartment, London.**

**3****rd**** April, 1982**

"Ready for your first magic lesson, Harry?" asked Sirius, trying hard not to sigh in despair at the sight of his godson jumping up and down in excitement at the prospect of learning magic. As happy as he was with the idea of his godson being a prodigy in magic, he still couldn't get himself over the fact that his godson favoured learning magic more than a good session of improving the sacred and the most important art of all – pranks.

"You promise to never say a word about learning magic to anyone? Not even your parents, okay? If your mother ever found that I've been allowing her baby to do magic before he was eleven, she'd…", Sirius trailed off whimpering in fear of what a pissed-off Lily Potter would do to him.

Seeing Harry nod in excitement, Sirius started, "Alright, Harry. We will start with charms first. It should be easiest of all the wand-related subjects, err... I think so. We will start with the levitating charm first. The incantation is _Wingardium Leviosa. _Now, can you -"

"What is an incan-thingy, Sirius?" interrupted Harry still bouncing up and down in excitement.

Sirius, who had never expected his godson to start questioning him this early in a lesson, was stumped. Sirius had been waiting for this day with dread ever since their visit to Dr. West - the day he would have to do the one thing he had sworn he would never do in his life ever – teaching.

After a minute of gaping at Harry, Sirius responded, "Well… it is a word… or sometimes more than one word, now that I think about it... that you um… shout… um… or say if you want… uh… your spell to work. Yeah, that's it. You should say that word if you want your spell to work."

Harry's face scrunched up in confusion, which added to the horror that Sirius was currently feeling. "But why?"

"Er… because that's the way it is?" Sirius offered weakly.

"So the spell won't work if I don't shout the word?" Harry asked again.

"Um… not exactly", replied Sirius thinking about people proficient in silent casting.

"But you said I should shout the words if I want the spell to work?"

"Well… er… you see… sometimes when a uh… umm… Some wizards can do spells without saying these words aloud"

"Why?" Harry demanded.

Sirius tried to think of a possible way to explain to Harry about the proficiency some wizards had in silent casting. But he did not want to expose to the overtly-excited boy that he himself was not that proficient in that art.

After a couple of minutes of thinking, Sirius came up with the best solution for all his problems. Grinning inwardly, he looked at his soon-to-be protégé with a sigh of disappointment and said, "You know Harry, this is the reason magic is not taught to anyone before they are eleven. You should learn so many things like theories and stuff, before you actually start learning spells. You haven't learnt these things. That is why you are not able to understand when I talked about incantations. You need to know these theories but you won't be able to understand these theories until you can read some of the books I'd recommend. But you wouldn't be able to read since you won't understand most of the words in those books."

"So I really have to wait till I can read properly, if I have to understand these theo-thingys and do magic properly?", Harry asked in a sullen tone, his excitement dying at the thought of having to learn unimportant things like _spelling_ _and grammar_ before he could do magic.

Sirius' grin showed up as he said, "I'm afraid so, Harry. But if you promise to work real hard and do exactly as I say, I can try to teach you in a… completely different manner, so as to speak."

**Next Day**

**Potter Residence**

"Padfoot, are you really, really sure this is the best way to master the floating charm?"

Harry, according to Lily, was playing fetch with Padfoot (_Sirius in his animagus form rather than his human form_) in the woods near their home. Lily was confused as she saw Sirius acting so excited about a five year old boy treating him like a pet dog but chalked it up as one of his many eccentricities. However, Sirius and Harry were hiding in the front-yard right next to the open window of the living room.

"First things first, it's the levitating charm, O'godson o'mine, not a floating charm. We will discuss about the success of your performance and the theories behind similar charms when we are in our safety zone but for now let's concentrate at the mission in our hands. Now, do you understand our mission objective? Consider this as our basic exercise as well as initial evaluation procedure in our journey to the pinnacle of your success. Perfection in execution is our motto. Excellence in…"

Harry tuned out his obviously delusional godfather who was giving what he thought was an inspirational speech to an imaginary battalion of pranksters while his eyes were glazed over in excitement. Harry sighed to himself as swished and flicked his mother's wand, which he had nicked a few minutes ago, in the same way he had been practising for the past 2 hours and whispered _'Wingardium Leviosa'_

Sirius returned to his senses at hearing the whispered incantation and watched as a bucket of water was levitated above Remus Lupin who was taking a nap in the armchair. When it was right over Remus' head, Harry ended the spell sending the entire bucket of water crashing into the snoring Remus waking him in the worst way possible. As soon as the bucket started falling, Harry threw the incriminating wand next to his father who was sitting, not very far from Remus.

Remus Lupin was enjoying his peaceful post-lunch nap in the comfortable armchair in the Potters' living room. But the peace he was enjoying could only last for so long as he bolted out of his seat alternating between sputtering and screaming bloody murder when he felt what could only be an entire bucket of ice-cold water dumped on his head.

James Potter was also lounging in the sitting room, his mind still on the wonderful lunch he had had and not noticing anything until he heard a girly scream from a rather manly voice. He bolted out of his seat in the couch to see a completely soaked Remus yelling and shrieking. Before he could understand the situation he heard a clutter of something rolling on the floor and coming to rest near his feet. Seeing that the object was a wand and eerily similar to his wife's, James bent down and picked up the wand not realising that he had set himself perfectly. Ducking below the window sill, Harry and Sirius grinned and high-fived each other at the success of the second stage of the prank.

When James looked up from examining the wand, he saw a pissed off Remus glaring at him and the wand in his hand. "YOU!!", was all he heard from Remus before he started fumbling in his robes looking for something. James' eyes widened in realisation when he saw Remus pointing his wand at him.

"MOOOOOOOOOONY!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

But it was too late as James watched a spell hit him and turn his ears into donkey ears and his hair turned into Slytherin green and silver. Snarling in anger at his attacker, James brandished the wand in his hand to cast back another spell that transfigured Remus' blue robes into pink and purple tutu.

Unnoticed by the occupants of the living room, Harry and Sirius, hiding in the bush outside the window, were holding onto each other, laughing their asses off as James and Remus started sending a volley of harmless but humiliating jinxes and curses at each other.

The duelling duo came to an abrupt stop when a rather loud voice screamed, "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?!! JAMES POTTER, REMUS LUPIN, WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOI-hmph"

James and Remus watched each other horrified as one of the last curses cast by James flew over the ducking Remus' head and hit Lily who had just entered the room attracted by the loud ruckus of the impromptu duel. Right now, Lily was drenched from head to toe in a rather foul-smelling neon-green wax.

Sirius and Harry felt it was the best time to retreat when they heard Lily ask, "Is that MY wand you are using, James honey?" in a sweet voice that screamed DANGER.

Once they were sure they had sneaked away enough, the troublesome duo of Harry and Sirius broke into a run not stopping until they were sure no one would be able to hear them.

Once they had recovered from their laughter, Harry asked, "Siri, it was funny alright. But is this the best way to learn magic? You could have simply taught me the theories and the floating charm like you did yesterday, no? Should I practise all the spells I learn on Moony to master them completely? I don't understand. How does practising these spells on Moony help me understand these theories?"

Shaking his head at the obvious ignorance of his younger partner, Sirius said, "I have a lot to teach you, Harry my boy. To excel in magic, you need to have proper motivation because without proper motivation you can do nothing. Your father and I never put that much effort into studying but we were masters of most forms of magic because we learnt them to use in our pranks. Pranking Slytherins was our motivation. Since there are no Slytherins around, you will have to use the next best thing – Moony. Well, that and I always wanted to see the all-brains-no-nonsense Moony getting his ass-whooped by a kid in a prank war. Tell me, when I tried to teach you the levitating charm yesterday, you had a lot of doubts – how does the spell work? Why is the incantation important? Even if you won't admit it to yourself, you were afraid that you wouldn't be able to pull it off. But I gave you a challenge to learn and use the spell to prank Moony and NOT get caught. Will you agree that it was the challenge I gave you that made you master the charm within 24hours?"

"Ok", muttered the poor boy who didn't understand most of what his godfather was saying. "But why pranks? Why can't I use something else for motivation?"

Sirius grinned at the pouting boy and replied with a grin, "I need a motivation to teach you, needn't I? What? Don't look at me like that. Shouldn't I get something out of teaching you magic? I've to say watching a five year old provoke Moony, make Prongs retaliate and get them both in trouble with Lily is… I don't know, heart-warming?"

Shaking the grin out of his face, Sirius turned to his protégé and said, "Alright, Harry, tomorrow we will start transfiguration. The first thing we are going to learn is transfiguring clothes."

"But, Siri, the first thing to learn in transfiguration is to transfigure a matchstick into a needle. Mom said so and I also saw it in her old school books."

Looking at Harry with a scowl, Sirius barked, "Who is the teacher here? You or me?"

"Er… you are"

"Then pray tell me how you are planning to prank your dad by transfiguring a matchstick into a needle?"

* * *

**Tonks Residence**

**Two months later**

"How's little Nymphadora doing, Andy?"

Andromeda Tonks sighed and replied, "Not so well, Sirius. I thought she would be happy when we discovered that she was a metamorphmagus. But, I don't think her friends take it well. You know how young children are. They are jealous of her new powers and are being rather _unpleasant_ to her, I guess. She is brooding full time now."

Sirius chuckled at the image of a pink-haired seven year old girl sitting in the corner of the room and brooding. "You just had to stick the name 'Nymphadora' on her on top of everything, didn't you?"

Andromeda huffed and replied, "I will have you know that Nymphadora is a fine name, Sirius. I get enough of this attitude from my daughter and I'm not going to take it from you or anyone else."

After a few minutes of bantering with his favourite cousin and internally debating with himself, Sirius asked, "Andy, can I ask a favour from you?"

"What is it, Sirius?"

"It's my godson, Harry. Harry Potter." Seeing Andromeda's nod, he started talking about Harry and his need to interact with people his own age.

After hearing Sirius, Andromeda Tonks consented to having the boy over to her house. "Of course you can bring him here anytime you want, Sirius Black. What kind of question is this? I'm sure Nymphadora will like to have some friends."

**The next day**

**Tonks Residence**

Andromeda Tonks and Sirius Black watched with great anticipation as a nearly six-year old Harry Potter approached the scowling 8-year old Nymphadora Tonks.

Harry sat next to the pink-haired girl on the couch and tentatively said, "Hi"

The girl however glared at him, making the watching Andromeda and Sirius wince. Harry, however, was not fazed by her hostile attitude as he continued, "My name is Harry. I know your name too, Nympha-"

"Don't. Call. Me. That.", the girl interrupted him with a growl that actually looked menacing.

"Why not?" Harry asked, oblivious to her tone.

Tonks blinked for a moment before muttering, "I hate that name"

"What do you hate? Your name? Nymphadora?"

Seeing the look of fury cross her daughter's face, Andromeda drew her wand just in case she needed to intervene to save the poor boy's life from her daughter.

Completely oblivious to Tonks' anger, Harry continued, "Siri said that I should try to be friends with you"

"Well… I do not want to be friends with you", Tonks interrupted rudely.

Andromeda opened her mouth to reprimand her daughter for her rudeness but Sirius gestured to her to sit back and watch how Harry was going to respond.

Harry, however, let out a sigh of relief and slumped on the couch next to Tonks and said, "Thank goodness. I thought for a moment you'd actually want to be my friend."

Clearly not expecting such a reply, Tonks could only let out a confused, "What?"

Harry looked at the girl beside him and asked, "Did you really think I wanted to be friends with you? I came to talk to you only because Sirius asked me to. Did you seriously expect me to be friends with a girl called Nymphadora? I mean what kind of lame name is that?"

The hair on the young Metamorph's head started to turn red as she turned to look at the boy beside her. Suffice to say that she was trembling with fury.

Harry, however, didn't seem to notice the anger the girl seemed to be radiating and continued, "Your hair looks like cotton candy. Well, not now. Now it looks like someone dumped a bottle of ketchup on your head."

Tonks was literally seeing red as the boy continued to insult her.

"And you are a girl. Everyone knows girls have cooties. I don't want to catch cooties."

The anger on the girl's face gave way to confusion for a second as she wondered what in the nine hells was 'cooties'. However, the anger returned once she found that the boy expected her to be infected by this 'cooties'.

"Oh, by the way, have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror? You look disgusting. You look like one of the hags Sirius pointed out to me in Diagon Alley."

Andromeda looked at the boy with confusion wondering what he was up to, insulting her only daughter like this while Sirius watched with a little smile on his face. Young Tonks, however, was looking like she wanted to launch herself at the arrogant brat but barely restraining herself only because her mother and her cousin were watching her.

"And you are fat too. I mean, look at you. You are filling half the couch and it looks like you are going to grow even more. I wouldn't want to be friends with a baby whale."

Nymphadora Tonks, in her whole life – eight years, that is – has faced some humiliation mostly from her former friends who were jealous of her metamorph powers. But no one had ever succeeded in making her as angry as she was now.

Harry continued, "And that smell?! Gah, you stink. I mean, you stink worse than the time Padfoot farts. Haven't you been introduced to the age-old custom of bathing?"

The final comment snapped whatever self-restraint Tonks had. Not caring anymore about what anyone would think, Tonks gave a war-cry and launched herself at the irritating boy to tackle him, only for her to trip over her own foot and crash on the couch.

Despite what everyone in the room was thinking, Harry was carefully watching the expression on Tonks' face change. So, when she launched herself at him, Harry was prepared and dived out of her reach. When he saw her trip on her own feet, he couldn't help but add, "And you haven't mastered the noble arts of walking, running and jumping? That's pathetic because-"

Whatever the reason was, no one could find out because Harry Potter was currently running away from a pissed off metamorph, laughing all the way.

Stifling his own laughter, Sirius looked at Andromeda who was looking at him with an expression that said _'Care to explain this?'_

Sirius shrugged with a grin and answered, "I don't know about you but I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

**October 1984**

**Communal Quidditch Stadium**

**Wales**

The Communal Quidditch Stadium was built in the 17th century for the Quidditch World Cup was held in Britain at that time. It had hosted hundreds, if not thousands of games since then including three other world cups and the British Quidditch League matches. However, the stadium was 'retired', for the lack of a better term, nearly forty years ago, when the British Ministry of Magic decided that the stadium was too small for games. The Ministry commissioned for three new stadiums to be built – one in the forest of Dean, one a few miles south of Dublin and the last near the famous port-town of Dover.

The 'officially retired' stadium was converted into a play-park for children.

Eight year old Harry Potter stood near the gates of the playground and watched the children play quidditch with a small smile in his face. Harry had been getting flying lessons from Sirius for the past year or so, along with his now-best friend Nymphadora Tonks. Of course, his parents had known about Harry's visits to the Tonks but not about the flying lessons.

Harry, however, felt that the backyard of the Tonks' household was not big enough for him to fly. Of course, there was also the unspoken reason that he wanted to pull off some moves that would otherwise be impossible under the watchful eye of Andromeda Tonks, who made it a point to treat him like her own son. So, after months of enduring Harry's persistent badgering, Sirius had taken him to the Communal Quidditch Park where Harry could fly as much as he wanted without the fear of muggles spotting him as well as make some more friends, hopefully.

Harry didn't notice the brown-haired boy standing next to him, till he spoke up.

"Are you new here?"

Harry turned to observe the boy watching him. The brown-haired, brown eyed boy looked to be the same age as Harry was. And he was smiling friendly in his direction. Harry decided that the boy was not a bad choice to start expanding his circle of friends, which until now consisted of only Nymphadora Tonks.

So, he extended his hand and greeted him back, "Yep. I'm Harry"

"I'm Cedric. I saw you standing alone and wanted to ask if you wanna join me and my friends for a game? You see, we have uneven numbers and my team needs a chaser. Are you interested?"

Harry smiled to himself. This was going easier than he had expected. "Sure, I'd love to."

**Diagon Alley**

**August 26****th****, 1988**

Harry Potter and Sirius Black peered through the window-display of _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. _To say that the shop was crowded was an understatement. Harry turned and glared at his godfather who had been convincing him the whole summer that they had all the time in the world to purchase his school supplies.

Sirius shrugged, seemingly unconcerned at the crowd and looked at Harry challengingly, "If you manage to buy your wand within half an hour, I will buy you as much ice cream as you want."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Is that a challenge, Padfoot?"

Seeing the affirmative nod from his godfather, Harry grinned victoriously and said, "Make that a bottle of fire-whiskey and I will do it."

Sirius sighed morosely and replied, "Harry, I hate to repeat myself for the millionth-gazillionth time this summer but you are too young for fire-whiskey."

"But you said just the other day that one is never too young for a shot of fire-whiskey", Harry's accusatory tone was a tad loud making the shoppers near him glare at Sirius.

Sirius winced at the memory and replied, "I said that because _**I**_ was too drunk to analyse what was coming out of my mouth. Nearly twelve is NOT old enough age for fire-whiskey. You are more in the butter-beer drinking age. Besides, I am not involving myself in a conversation with your mother that includes you and fire-whiskey. I am way too young to die."

Harry narrowed his eyes at his smiling godfather and replied, "Alright. You will buy me all the ice cream I want, if I manage to buy the wand within thirty minutes. BUT, you will buy me the best bottle of fire-whiskey for my fifteenth birthday."

With that, Harry turned and observed the wand shop, again. It was full of students waiting to get their first wand, while a girl with brunette pigtails was trying wand after wand that the old Mr. Ollivander was handing her. It looked like it would be a good two hour wait before he could start trying wands for himself.

Pulling the door open with a crash, Harry rushed into the shop pretending to pant and smile massively. Taking a deep breath, he bellowed, "HE IS HERE!! OH MY GOD, HE IS HERE!! THE BOY-WHO-LIVED IS IN DIAGON ALLEY!! OH, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!"

Shouts of _WHAT?!_ and _WHERE?! _filled the shop as almost everyone wanted to finally meet the elusive boy-who-lived Alexander Charles Potter.

Raising his hand to stall the demands of the customers in the shop, Harry replied, "He was signing autographs in Quality Quidditch Supplies but I heard someone saying that he was going to Gringotts. Or was it Eyelops?! I don't know but I'm hoping he doesn't leave too soon."

Apparently, the boy-who-lived had an avid fan base as everyone rushed out to get an autograph of the boy-hero for themselves. Harry had to dive to the corner to avoid being stampeded by the crowd rushing out of the store to hopefully meet the boy hero.

Harry brushed his clothes and made a show of inspecting the now empty wand shop, before calling out to his godfather who was standing outside, "Hey, Padfoot. Will you look at this? The shop is empty. Do you think I could get my wand first?"

Not expecting a reply from his amused godfather, Harry walked up to the wand-maker, who was still standing with a wand in his outstretched arm, and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter. Yep, Alex Potter is my brother and yep, I know it is wrong to use his name and fame like this but I'm here to buy a wand and I can't wait till everyone is finished. That would take too much time. I can't afford to waste any time. Don't worry though – I'm sure your customers will be back in an hour or two."

Ollivander gave Harry a dirty glare for making all his customers run off but he was secretly amused by the boy's tactics.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration."

Nodding to the boy, he asked, "Which is your wand arm, Mr. Potter?"

Harry gave Ollivander a patronising smile and answered, "I wouldn't know that now, would I? I mean I have never owned a wand before, so naturally I wouldn't know my wand arm, don't you think?"

Ollivander gave an irritated sigh and replied, "I meant, are you left handed or right handed, Mr. Potter?"

"Is that all? I'm left-handed. Why didn't you say so the first time? You could avoid a lot of misunderstanding if you had said so in the first place."

Ollivander chose not to reply and continued talking, "Let us find you a wand, shall we? But then again, it's not the wizard that chooses the wand. Its-"

"It's not?", Harry interrupted, knowing fully that the wand-maker would be irritated with the interference.

"No-"

Harry, however, turned to fix his godfather with an accusatory glare. "See Padfoot? I told you we should have brought mum along for shopping. Or Andy. Or atleast Nymmy. Now, I don't get to choose my wand." Turning to face the Ollivander, Harry apologised, "I'm sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Ollivander. I will come tomorrow for my wand and I will bring someone to choose my wand."

"Wait, WHAT?! Someone to choose your wand?! I do not understand."

Seeing the baffled expression on the older man's face, Harry explained, "Well, you said a wizard cannot choose his wand. Since we don't have a witch with us that I trust, we will have to wait till tomorrow when we can find a witch who we trust, so that she may choose a wand for me. Mind you, I am not terribly interested in letting a woman choose my wand but who am I to question your methods."

"NO, NO, NO!!! THAT is not what I meant, Mr. Potter. Witches and Wizards are the same. I meant to say that it's the wand that chooses the wizard?"

"Oh, really? How does that works?", Harry asked looking genuinely curious, "Because I'm not comfortable with the idea of being stacked in shelves with the other kids and you bringing the wands around to pick whomever the wand likes"

Ollivander gave an irritated sigh at the insanity that Harry was spouting out at the moment and replied, "No, Mr. Potter, you simply try each wand till you end up with a wand that favours you. Well, now, Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harry, who was listening attentively to Ollivander's explanation, piped up, "But what if no wand favours me or better yet, more than one wand favour me? And why do you use only phoenixes, unicorns or dragons for wand-cores? What if only something really cool like a nundu or chimera or manticore or all three will favour me? And what will you do if you had already sold the wand that would have favoured me? Or what if the best matching wand is not in your shop but in someone else's shop? What if you have not made it yet?"

**Tonks Residence**

**Half an hour later**

Nymphadora Tonks and her mother looked up from whatever they were doing to see Harry and Sirius stumble out of the floo, with arms full of ice cream cartons laughing hysterically.

Andy sighed at the sight of the two and asked, "Ok, what did you two idiots do, now?"

Sirius simply pointed at Harry and burst out, "Harry started a stampede in Diagon Alley and then freaked Mr. Ollivander out so much that he couldn't wait to throw us out"

Andromeda Tonks sighed again, something she had being doing regularly for the past five or so years.

Nymphadora Tonks on the other hand, couldn't wait to hear all the details of all the havoc her partner-in-crime had raised in the two hours of shopping that she wasn't allowed to join in simply because she was grounded.

After hearing the details of the entire shopping trip that included letting loose all the cats in the magical menagerie free and the fireworks in Quality Quidditch supplies and of course, Harry's stunt in the wand shop, Tonks regretted the pranks she had pulled on Prof. Flitwick, which had made him write to her mother and hence, the punishment she had received.

"So, show me your wand. What is the magical core?! What wood is it made of?! Did you get a good response from your wand?! Tell me!!"

Harry took one look at the bouncing Tonks and asked, "Nymmy, are you high on sugar?"

Seeing his friend roll her eyes at him, Harry fished out a new wand from his bag and held it in his arms with a proud expression on his face. "Here, one brand new wand with my wand. Itsssssss…" he paused dramatically, "Ebony. 14 inches. It has the core of a dragon heartstring from a Hungarian horntail."

Tonks looked at her friend for a whole minute before bursting out laughing. As Harry glared at her, she tried and failed to control her laughter. After a couple of minutes, she managed to gasp out, "Wh-What happened to being the first one in several centuries to wield a staff?! Or a fancy wand with thirteen magical cores?! Or a wand made of a wood that's only mentioned in mythology?! You know I really believed when you said you will get a wand from some famous person like Merlin or Morgana. I guess you aren't all that special then?"

If Harry was embarrassed, he didn't show it since he announced imperiously, "It's not the wand that must be special, Nymphadora but its wielder. A simpleton may achieve something with an extraordinary wand but a genius will do wonders with a simple wand. I guess, I should be a genius then."

Tonks pouted at Harry as she said, "I still can't believe you won't be attending Hogwarts. Are you sure nothing could be done? Didn't you say your mother would talk to Prof. Dumbledore?"

Harry replied, "She did. But apparently they couldn't find a replacement for the Ancient Runes post. Stupid ministry and it's even stupider rules. Why can't a teacher's son study in the same school his parent teaches? It's not like my mother is going to favour me. In fact, it will be the exact opposite. She would be even stricter with me. Besides, she wouldn't be teaching the first or second years."

Tonks nodded in agreement with Harry's statement and asked, "I still can't believe you managed to get your parents to allow you to go to Durmstrang."

"They aren't convinced or anything.", agreed Harry, "It took numerous temper tantrums, blackmails about me running away from home and several shouting matches with my parents. Even now, they are not okay with me going there. They want me to either go to Beauxbatons or get home-schooled until I can join Hogwarts next year. Father doesn't want to talk to me until I agree to his choices. According to them, Durmstrang is not an appropriate school for children like me. Apparently, students are taught dark arts there. Heck, they even got Dumbledore involved to get him to convince me to choose Beauxbatons."

"Really?!", Tonks asked wanting to know what the esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts had to say.

"Yep. But I told him to forget it. I've made my choice and I'm going to Durmstrang. I told Dumbledore I'm going to make Durmstrang outshine Hogwarts by the time I graduate. That I would make him regret not allowing me to attend his school. I intend to keep my promise."

**3.00 PM, August 31****st**** 1988**

**The Grand Hotel**

**Oslo, Norway**

Seeing the tension build between James, Lily and Harry in the final days leading up to the start of the term, Sirius offered to take Harry for his first trip to school. Since the trip involved international travel, Sirius and Harry started a day early. Seeing that Harry still needed some last minute shopping, they chose to stay in Oslo for the day before starting north the next morning. Currently, Harry and Sirius were sitting in a suite of one of the city's best hotels.

Sirius took a look at the young boy sitting in front of him. Sirius didn't know how to open the conversation he was going to have with his godson though he had been rehearsing it for the past five years. Taking a deep breath, he started, "Harry, I wanted to give you an apology and an explanation before you start school and I wanted to do it in private. That's why I insisted on starting early."

"An apology, Sirius?", asked Harry, now curious since this was the first time Harry had ever seen his godfather apologise. He wondered for a moment if Sirius was trying to prank him but squashed that idea when he saw how sincere Sirius looked.

"Yes, Harry, an apology. I want to apologise to you for isolating you away from your family."

"Padfoot, you had nothing to do with the whole Hogwarts-or-Durmstrang situation. It was the stupid ministry of magic and their regulations. I mean, who cares if I am a teacher's son? I think British Ministry of Magic is the only one to enforce such a thing in the whole world – both magical and muggle."

"Harry, this is not about the whole school issue. I meant I am sorry for trying to… no, I am sorry for isolating you from Alex, Andrew, Rose and Evie"

Harry was thoroughly confused now. He had absolutely no clue on what Sirius was talking about. "What do you mean isolating me?"

"Harry, do you love your brothers and sisters?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then why aren't you close to them as you are with Nymphadora and your other quidditch friends?" Seeing Harry not being able to answer, Sirius continued, "Are you really close to your brothers and sisters, Harry? As much as Nymphadora and your other quidditch friends like Cedric, Roger and Alicia? Do you spend time with them – play games or pranks? Do you even have a meaningful conversation with them from time to time?"

Harry thought for a long minute about what Sirius was saying and answered, "No, I am not. But that's because I spend more time out with you and my friends than I spend with the lot at home. But even at home, I prefer to read because of all the work you wanted me-", Harry paused as realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. "You planned it. You took me out regularly so that I didn't spend enough at home. You gave a chance to make new friends so that I wouldn't feel lonely and feel the need to be friendlier with my siblings. You taught me magic and gave me enough work so that I would be distracted at home and wouldn't have any time to spend with my parents or siblings. You took me to play quidditch in the old stadium and gave me a chance to make new friends so that I couldn't wait to get out of the house every day to be with them. More importantly, you made sure you spoiled me with pranks and stuff so that my parents wouldn't let my siblings join me in anything."

Seeing Sirius nod his head sadly, Harry continued, "Alex, Rose, Evie and Andrew now see me as a spoiled, arrogant git who thinks he is special because he gets to learn magic and play quidditch way before he actually goes to school. They are jealous of me because I get freedom that is somehow denied to them – that I am allowed to go out anywhere as long as I am with you but they are not. They think that I consider them a distraction- no, a burden of sorts, that I resent not being the only child. They think you like me better than them. More importantly, you made me look like that even when I am not."

Harry closed his eyes and breathed heavily to get his emotions under control mostly his anger, disappointment and regret. Opening his eyes he asked, "Why?"

Sirius bowed his head in shame and replied, "You are right. I did manipulate the available situations to make sure that you and the rest of your family were not close – especially Alex. But my reasons were not personal. I didn't do it to gain anything out of it. Believe me when I say that I regret my actions every single day but I had to do what I had to do. If you give me some time I will explain my actions to you completely. You can choose to judge me after you hear what I have to say. Is that acceptable?"

Seeing Harry nod, Sirius felt a small bit of relief flood into his system. Sirius knew that Harry had all the reasons to hate him but now he had the chance to explain before he was judged.

"You do know that Lord Voldemort is still alive and not dead as those newspapers claim, don't you?" Seeing Harry nod, Sirius continued, "Have you ever thought what would happen should he be resurrected? Can you guess who he will come after, the moment he regains his body?"

It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for Harry to guess, "Alex. Alex is the reason Voldemort lost all of his powers that night. He will want revenge before he does anything else. So he will come for Alex and consequently for all Potters." Looking at Sirius with an odd expression in his face, "Sirius, are you telling me that I should distance myself from my family or I would be killed too? Coz I am not going to do that. Despite what they think, I do love my brothers and sisters. I know it would sound childish coming from me but I will do anything I can, to protect them."

"NO" Calming himself for a minute, Sirius answered, "I did not do it for such a stupid reason because I know you would never ever agree to it. More importantly, **I** would never think of something so awful. You guys are all the family I've got and I do not abandon my family because they would put my life in danger." The conviction in Sirius' eyes and tone made Harry believe him.

"I betrayed your trust to make sure that your family would find peace after the war is over. And, yes Harry, a war - a long, god-awful war will begin when Lord Voldemort regains his body. It may be today, tomorrow, next week or fifty years later but it will happen."

"You may not agree with me, Harry, but I betrayed your trust and created a rift between you and the rest of your family so that at least you may have some control over your own destiny."

Harry regarded Sirius warily and asked, "Destiny, Sirius? Somehow I think you are blowing things out of proportion. You are talking as if no one else has control over their destinies."

"I don't think anyone in your family other than you has any control over theirs, Harry" Seeing Harry's surprised look, Sirius continued, "There is a prophecy, Harry, that says Alex is the only person that has the ability to defeat Lord Voldemort. Would you now believe me when I say Alex' destiny is predestined?"

"Wait!! WHAT?! PROPHECY?! Alex is the only person that can defeat the worst dark lord in over six centuries?! How?! Are you sure?! How can you be sure?! Please tell me you are joking!!"

"There is a copy of the prophecy in the department of mysteries if you want proof but I am afraid that only the people about whom the prophecy is made will be able to activate it. Besides, your parents were the ones that told me. I don't think they will lie especially on this issue."

"But-but how?! How will Alex be able to defeat Voldemort?! Are you sure its Alex the prophecy is referring to?! Can't it be someone else?! "

"Yes, it is confirmed. There were only two candidates for the prophecy but it was sealed the night Lord Voldemort attacked your brother. Harry, we can discuss the prophecy's accuracy later but can we get back to the topic on hand?"

Harry rounded on Sirius furiously, "How do you expect me to discuss something else when I find out that my eight year old brother has to fight that monster and expected to win?!"

Sirius, however, was unperturbed and replied calmly, "Because if you do so, I will be able to tell you what you and I can do regarding that subject"

Harry took well over a minute to get his mind under control. He didn't want to think about anything other than the prophecy between Lord Voldemort and Alex. But a small part of his brain insisted that he listen to whatever Sirius had to say. However, he had one thing he had to confirm, "You and me? As in no one else not even mum and dad but only you and me?"

Seeing Sirius nod, Harry asked, "Alright, I'll bite. Why only the two the two of us? I mean mum and dad will protect and help Alex in any way possible. What makes you think the two of us can do something that the others can't? No offense, but you are just an average auror for the British MoM and I am just a twelve year old kid."

"Because the two of us are the only ones that are outside Dumbledore's sphere of influence."

Seeing Harry's blank look, Sirius continued, "Your parents will want to protect to Alex at any cost and Dumbledore is the only one Voldemort ever feared. Besides, James and Lily practically worship that man. They will no doubt impress similar ideas into Alex, Evie, Rosie and Andrew's heads. Albus is the one that overlooked Remus' lycanthropy issue and allowed him to attend Hogwarts. So he has Moony's undying and unfaltering loyalty."

Harry's confusion grew even more and he simply demanded, "Sirius, please explain. Why does my family being loyal to Dumbledore trouble you? Are you- Are you implying that Dumbledore is a bad guy?"

Sirius got comfortable in the chair, knowing this was going to be a long explanation. "Not exactly. I do agree that he is the man of best intentions and he wouldn't hurt anyone. But our perception of best intentions differs from his. You know what they say – the road to hell is paved on good intentions. He has worked harder than anyone else for the betterment of our world. And that is the problem. He has been the only man that has been doing these things for a long time that people do not recognise the mistakes he makes."

"Albus has arrogance deep within himself because of the influence he wields over everyone else. It isn't the usual '_I-know-everything-and-you-know-nothing_' type of arrogance but more like an '_I'm-the-one-who-has-to-bear-the-entire-burden_' kind of arrogance. He has a plan for everyone and thinks that his plan is infallible and would work for the best."

Taking a deep breath, Sirius continued, "Since the day your brother defeated the dark lord, Dumbledore has been making plans regarding Alex and the wizarding world. I do not know what exactly it is, but I am sure it extends beyond Alex defeating Voldemort. Maybe he wants Alex to become the next Chief Warlock or the Minister of Magic. And judging the way Andrew, Rosie and Evie behave, I am sure his plans include them also. Haven't you noticed the way he practically runs your household? He was the one who made sure that your siblings, especially Alex, would never be allowed in the public spotlight, after all."

Harry breathed in impatiently and asked, "What's wrong with that? You said yourself that the man would never harm anyone. So if he is making plans regarding my brothers and sisters, surely it won't be bad."

Sirius blew out his breath and replied, "In best interests of the wizarding world? Definitely yes. Would his plans be in the best interests of your siblings? I am not sure. Albus' brilliant plans have one major flaw. He would sacrifice ten to save a thousand. People would say that it's not a bad thing and sacrifices should be made for the greater good. But it won't sound fair if you are one of the ten that is going to be sacrificed. I don't know what he has in store for Alex and that others but one thing I know for sure – his plans were definitely not in the best interests of you until I sabotaged them."

Harry gasped softly and asked, "How do you say that?"

Sirius had a grim expression on his face as he explained, "Do you remember the times you used to spy Dumbledore talking with your parents late at night, where they would discuss about Lord Voldemort? Do you think it is coincidence that you knew exactly when your parents and Dumbledore were having a meeting? Or that they would never cast any charms or wards to prevent someone eavesdropping? Or that Dumbledore, who somehow seems to know everything, never found out that you were listening in on their meetings? The answer is he knew – all the time. In fact, he made sure that you eavesdropped on him at every chance."

Seeing Harry's flabbergasted expression, Sirius continued, "The first time you told me about those meetings I had my suspicions. I didn't know for sure but I had a bad feeling about the entire episode. It didn't take me much time to figure out that Dumbledore wanted you to know about Voldemort. The only reason I could infer was that Dumbledore wanted you to do something with that information – something like being a personal guard or protector of sorts for Alex. I didn't have problems with that. In fact, I was somewhat relieved that Alex and the others would be protected by someone especially you. But when you reported about consequent meetings, I had a hunch that he wanted something more sinister from you but I didn't know exactly what. Call it a gut-feeling. So, I started subtly encouraging you to spend your time away from your siblings. I hoped that if you were not close to Alex and the others, then Dumbledore would think that you wouldn't sacrifice yourself for them. It may sound lame but it actually worked."

Sirius sighed in exasperation, "When he realised that you and your siblings were not close, he stopped trying to manipulate you. I don't think he suspects me catching up to his plans but according to him, you became a non-issue. An unwanted pawn. He didn't want you around to mess up his plans for a post-Voldemort wizarding world. So he also subtly encouraged a small rift between your siblings and you. He knew about me teaching you magic and encouraged me. He made your parents allow you to go out. Can you guess what he did next?"

After a minute of silence, Harry gasped out, "He wouldn't have. That-That utter BASTARD!! HE SABOTAGED MY CHANCES OF GETTING INTO HOGWARTS!!"

Sirius sighed in agreement "You thought the Ministry enforced such a rule? I'll bet a hundred galleons that those in power don't even know that such a rule exists. Harry, the rule that screwed over your chance of getting into Hogwarts was passed in 1219 and hasn't been enforced since the 17th century. Did you think it was a coincidence that Dumbledore offered your mother a post at his school just a year ago? Or the fact that he says he couldn't find an alternate for your mother when I know of a woman, one Bathsheba Babbling who is interested and available for the post? Dumbledore didn't want you around Hogwarts to tarnish the fame of his boy-who-lived or something like that. So, he forced you into a position where you have no choice but to choose some other school."

Seeing Harry concentrating hard, Sirius continued, "I was afraid that he would force you to go to Beauxbatons or The Welsh Academy of Magic because I know the heads of both the schools are his people. They would do anything he says. But even I was surprised when you stood your ground and made your way into Durmstrang coz it's one place he has no control over. So, I am kind of happy that you are slowly growing out of his reach."

Harry looked oddly at his godfather and asked, "So you are not mad at me going to a school where they teach dark arts?! It doesn't bother you that my headmaster is a death eater?!"

Sirius smiled at Harry and replied, "Harry, the Hogwarts potions master Severus Snape was a death eater who was pardoned when Dumbledore vouched for him in front of the Wizengamot. One of the members of the Hogwarts board of governors – Lucius Malfoy was an inner circle member of Voldemort's most trusted. So, I don't think you are in any worse position. Besides, Karkaroff tattled off about his colleagues in front of the Wizengamot. I don't think he would want to antagonise the other side too by harming you in any way."

Harry stood and walked up to the window to look out of the window and watch the ships anchored the north seas. "What are we going to do now, Sirius?"

Sirius walked to stand next to Harry and look out the window himself, not wanting to meet his godson's eyes. After a long silence, he spoke, "I think we should out-manipulate Dumbledore and Voldemort, Harry. We have to wrestle the control that Dumbledore enjoys over everyone. The only way to stop Dumbledore from manipulating your family into doing something we don't want is to take over magical Britain ourselves and control how it works."

"Excuse me; do you imply that we should take over a country?"

"Not at all, Harry. I am saying that we should be the ones behind the curtains running the show some twenty or even fifty years down the line. Face it, Harry. Dumbledore isn't going to live forever. Sooner or later, someone has got to replace him. All I am saying is that we, specifically you, should be the one to do it."

Harry looked at his godfather for a minute as if he was crazy before he decided that there was absolutely no doubt.

Sirius Orion Black was insane.

"Sirius, I hate to be the mature one here but I don't think that is possible."

Sirius turned to regard Harry with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

Harry fixed Sirius with his patented patronising smile and replied, "Because we will need truck-loads of money, popularity, public support, man-power and brains to outsmart Dumbledore, Voldemort, the ministry and those who control it. They aren't going to roll over and allow anyone to do that. It is insane just to think of such a thing. In case you didn't notice – you have an average salary and a decent bank account, nothing out of the ordinary. And I have a trust fund that will see me through school and nothing more. You and I have nothing. Our combined funds will be suitable for buying a small house, not taking over the world. We will be arrested if we even think of trespassing into the Wizengamot chambers, much less take over it. You and I are nothing, Sirius. You are an auror and I'm a kid. People would laugh if they hear what we are discussing. No one, not even my parents or even Nymmy would support you if you were to run for the Minister post."

Sirius smiled at Harry, "Exactly. You are a student and I'm an auror. No one would expect us to even think of such a thing. But we have surprise on our side. You are going to Durmstrang which is thousands of miles from Britain, so no one home is going to pay any attention to you. You have seven years of anonymity, Harry. You have the chance to build yourself away from the eyes of everyone. In seven years, you can achieve anything. I may not have said this often, Harry, but you are a genius. A pure, born-genius. I'm sure you can figure out in seven years time what you need to do to earn everything you mentioned – money, popularity, power, influence, public support and knowledge."

Harry looked at Sirius oddly. "This is your plan?! Letting me figure it out by myself?! Cause it sure as hell sounds like a lousy one."

Sirius grinned at his godson and replied, "It would be an insult for a marauder to have a long time plan, Harry. We need to come up with new ideas on our feet."

Harry sighed at his godfather and replied, "I don't think I have it in me, Sirius. Planning to wrestle the control of a country from two of the most powerful wizards of all times is like something out of fantasy novels."

Sirius moved in front of his godson and looked into his eyes. "Do not think I am giving you an idea and abandoning you, Harry. For all we know, it maybe fifty years before Voldemort resurfaces and Dumbledore would be long gone by then. Someone would need to step in and lead the country. And I think you will be the perfect person for it. Besides, I would be with you all the way."

Seeing Harry smile, Sirius slung his arms around his godson's shoulders, "Remember what I taught you, Harry. As long as you don't hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it, you can do anything – absolutely anything to win. It's a lesson worth remembering because that's exactly what you've got to do. You can save your family from harm only if you achieve the power that Dumbledore is so reluctant to share. Do it, Harry. When you were younger you used to say that you wanted to be a king. I'm telling you now – if you want your family to live through another war without any loss, become the King."


	7. Catnip!

**THE KING**

By

_Seraph Orion Black_

**DISCLAIMER:** I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH… Is there any need to include this part in every chapter?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I am so, so, sooo sorry for the long delay in updating. So I've done a nice 11k chapter as an apology. Thank you for the reviews, by the way. It feels nice when you see someone write that your story is good.

I appreciate it.

I really do.

Believe me, I really, really do.

Before, I begin the next chapter – I would like to say that this is a novel-length fic – I have the entire fic mapped out in my mind, I just have to type it all out. The only delay is me being too lazy to sit down and type it all out.

Another thing – anyone willing to BETA my fic please say so in the review area. I really need one.

I couldn't help but notice that more than one of you expects Harry to be alive. I have to tell you right now that I have no plans of having any reincarnations or resurrections for Harry, no switches during the execution, no fakes or any fancy magic tricks (no pun intended), no turning into vampires and most importantly no horcruxes for him. Harry is dead. No more. The reason why no one questioned his conviction till now was because everyone truly believed he had turned into a psychopath and went on a killing spree trying to get revenge. No one had any suspicions until the clues they had about his life failed to completely agree with their assessments.

I am also not going to go into Harry's life in Durmstrang deeply. There is a reason which also you will find later.

Also, based on last chapter, most of you might think Harry will be some super-duper Gary-Stu hero even when he is in his first year. I have to disagree. While he may be well ahead of his peers, he will still be absolutely no match for Dumbledore or Voldemort. Harry will struggle, face failure, belittled, scorned, and insulted. He will lie, cheat, blackmail, threaten and sweet-talk to get anything he wants.

Harry is NOT a parselmouth. Alex is.

The most important point I'd like to make is – _Harry is NOT the heir of Merlin or any of the founders. The Potters are NOT an insanely wealthy family._ They are a normal family with a decent family history and a large-but-certainly-not-humongous house. So,

No Potter Castles

No unexpected inheritances from seriously (pun intended) famous ancestors.

No hereditary titles or seats in the Wizengamot.

No owning or being a duke or a lord or a king (the title doesn't mean he is literally a king, just a figure of speech) of any country or state or even a town.

No insane power-ups or family magic that no one else can access.

No league of followers or private armies or oath-bound vassals.

No billions and gazillions of galleons in super-secret vaults in Gringotts or any other banks

No relation to the British Monarchy – so no knighthoods or becoming Magical advisor to the throne or anything.

No chance of finding some super-cool ritual-instructions, books or time-turners from Knock turn alley that no one else seems to find. (I've read fics where Harry buys necromantic and black magic books from Flourish and Blotts. Honestly, that place is supposed to sell school books! And the worst part is Harry seems to be the only person who could do this.)

I think I have covered it all.

Any questions?

Oh, by the way, the same goes for Sirius and the Black family. Just imagine that the Blacks exhausted all their power, wealth and influence by backing up Lord Voldemort et al.

**Chapter 6**

**Catnip?**

**St. Mungo's **

**19****th**** November 1988**

"Why are we doing this, again?" asked Harry in a resigned tone, with his shoulders slumped and a look of weariness in his features. "Don't you think they've had enough? I mean, seriously, what are they trying to do? Help the wizarding world by breaking the one billion wizard population mark?"

Sirius looked at his godson with amusement as they strode into the Maternity ward of 's Hospital for Magical Maladies. Lily Potter had gone into labour the previous day and given birth to a baby girl. The duty of fetching Harry from school so that he could meet his newest baby sister obviously fell to Sirius.

Lily Potter looked up from cooing to her new daughter as Harry and Sirius entered the room. Harry observed the rest of the Potter family seated around the bed, each trying to get as much time as possible with the newest Potter. Harry was being forced to visit the little baby Potter when he clearly didn't want to be included in the family reunion, as the annoyance was clear on his face. His brothers and sisters were giving him the same disapproving looks at his annoyed scowl that they had been giving him for the past three years.

Harry was shaken out of his reverie, when he heard his newest little sister make cooing sounds while looking directly at him. Adopting a frowning face, he moved closer to observe the baby. He could see the same black hair and green eyes that all the Potter children had inherited from their parents. All of a sudden, the baby squealed happily and grabbed his finger which was resting near her hand in the bed. As Harry looked from the fingers grabbing his hand to the baby's face, he saw the baby making happy cooing sounds while smiling at him.

Identical shocked faces were reflected throughout the Potter family. It was well known that Harry always acted indifferently with his siblings and he was at a stage where he thought babies were icky, disgusting and a nuisance. In fact no one expected the baby to smile at him let alone grab his hand, especially when he had _such_ an unpleasant expression on his face. Add to that the fact that the baby had been crying all the time and absolutely refused to be touched by anyone until then. Harry on the other hand was stumped. He tried to glare at the child but to the joy of those gathered around him, she just cooed again and started to smile again - a genuine toothless smile that only a new-born can manage.

Lily smirked at her eldest son thinking this could very well be the chance to turn the tables on him and his ridiculous _coolness_. Looking at Harry, she said aloud, "Harry dear, meet your new sister. Isn't she cute? Awww look at that, she is smiling at you! Do you want to hold her?"

"No" came the immediate response.

"Awww, come on. You know you want to. I mean, look at her. She is not even letting your finger go free. She likes you very much, Harry sweetie. She hasn't done this to anyone else, not even me."

Turning to her just born daughter, Lily started cooing, "Look at your big brother, honey-bunny. When you grow up, he is going to be the best big brother in the whole world. Won't you like that, pumpkin?"

Harry looked at his mother as if she was crazy. "Do I look like I want to hold her? Are you crazy? And what do you mean cute? She is pink, blobby, wrinkly, smells funny and disgusting. How can anyone find that cute? And stop lying to the poor kid – you know I'm never gonna do that."

Normally, any mother would be angry – enraged even - and offended when someone says their baby is disgusting, especially their new-born baby. But Lily was used to Harry and his peculiar way of expressing his displeasure and she immediately discerned that he was very uncomfortable being the centre of the baby's attention. Rolling her eyes at her son and his attempts to look '_cool_', she turned to her new daughter. "Don't pay any attention to your big brother, love. He is just trying to look like a meanie but he is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig softie inside. He is just being ridiculous. Do you want your big brother to hold you, sweetie?"

The baby may not understand what her mother was saying but she liked all the cooing sounds and funny faces her mother was making at her and squealed again. Taking the baby's squeal as assent, Lily swiftly but carefully deposited the baby in the unsuspecting Harry's hands.

"HEY! HEY! You can't do that to me! Take her off me! NOW! Get her off my hands, woman! What the hell is wrong with you? Everyone knows babies are disgusting! They pee and poop randomly at the most unsuspecting times! I don't want to get my robes spoiled… Wait! WAIT! Something's getting wet and its getting smelly! GET HER OFF MY HANDS NOW, WOMAN! _OFF MEEEEEEEEEEE!_"

Sirius was still laughing at the red-faced Harry as they walked towards the café in the hospital. Sirius wanted to grab something to eat since it had been three long hours since his last proper meal – a truly unacceptable period of starvation according to him. Whereas Harry just wanted to get away from the most embarrassing moment of his life and was inspecting his now stain-and-odour-free robes every now and then.

"So, how is school, Harry?" Sirius asked in a conversational tone. However, Harry was able to understand what Sirius was really trying to ask.

Harry looked around him. The café was deserted at this time of the day. He looked back at his godfather munching on his fourth ham sandwich but looking at him intently, all fun and laughter out of his system and looking very serious.

Harry shook his head in exasperation, "I can't figure out anything specific, Sirius. I don't know what to do or who to ask, without looking like an immature fool. Ever since you said I should figure out what I should do next, I can't seem to land a single solid idea. If only you had some bright ideas, I'd be eternally grateful."

Sirius nodded calmly and took his time savouring the last bites of the sandwich.

"You have learned the first couple of lessons I wanted you to learn. Lesson number one, you should ask for help when you need it. Don't let pride stand in your way. BUT, make sure you ask the right person."

Harry looked at Sirius with surprise. Sirius smiled at his godson and replied, "What? Did you really expect me to let all the planning to you, a twelve year old boy? Especially something as cool as a future coup over our own country. See, this is the second lesson I want you to learn – Never underestimate anyone. Don't ever believe anyone. It's better being a sceptic and a paranoid than being a fool. Do you honestly think I wouldn't have come up with any ideas in all these years? Think Harry"

Harry nodded with a look of understanding in his eyes.

Sirius sat opposite Harry "The first part of our plan is to build a persona for you. We are years from doing anything proactive, so let go of any crazy idea you may have formed in your mind. But if you need to succeed in the political and social world, your personality should be impeccable and appealing to everybody right from the start. So, we are going to work on that. It's a slow process and it would take years if not decades to work."

Harry nodded. "How do I do it?"

Sirius smirked at Harry. "You already have one, Harry. You're smart, intelligent, handsome and charming. You have a certain quality about you that makes people flock around you and follow you – at least people your age that is. It's all there naturally. Develop that. Build yourself into the person that people would fantasise as their perfect leader. Add a little flair and style to make yourself appealing."

Harry frowned at Sirius and asked, "But to whom? I mean, I'm so far from Britain that I think anything I do will be useless."

"Harry, Harry, you have so much to learn", Sirius said in a condescending tone, shaking his head, "You, Harry, are in one of the three most popular magical schools of Europe. While, Hogwarts' student population may be entirely English, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have a larger number of students from a more-widespread, diverse pool of ethnicity. Beauxbatons caters to most of Western and south-European students but students from the Balkans, Scandinavia, Russia, Germany and the other northern and eastern-European countries attend Durmstrang. So the student population of Durmstrang must include the sons, grandsons, brothers, nephews, grand-nephews and cousins of all the major politicians, Ministers, Ambassadors, Entrepreneurs of all these countries. Find them and befriend them. Be subtle about your motives but make sure their more useful relatives hear all the good things about you."

Harry jerked back from his contemplation and looked at Sirius, "But, isn't that wrong? I mean, using people like that?"

Sirius looked Harry in the eye and replied, "Lesson number three, Harry and this is the most important of them all. You can do anything you want - absolutely anything - to get what you want, as long as the good people don't get hurt. So, to answer your question, don't act like you are befriending them. Be genuine. Be their true friend and then it won't be wrong."

After a minute of silence, Sirius spoke, "The only real worry we have is the money. I don't have a clue about how we are going to make you financially stable enough to play political games. I could come up with nothing that is not illegal."

Harry had a superior smirk on his face as he turned to face his godfather, "Oh, I've got to cherish this moment. I have a fool-proof idea that my partner-in-crime never thought about. This confirms it. I am a genius. I am-"

"Alright, alright. Out with it, Potter. We will see if you are as good as you say you are. What did you have in mind?"

"Quidditch"

Sirius looked at Harry with mock-exasperation and replied, "I thought of this way before you did, kiddo. Turning you into a professional quidditch player is an option I have already considered. BUT, if you had researched your options well, then you would have realised that you have to be seventeen and above to play in the pro-league. You are going to have to wait a few years to do that – you know, to grow out of your midget size."

Harry turned to look at Sirius with a mischievous grin on his face. "Only if you want to play in the British Premier Quidditch League."

Sirius' head jerked back and he looked at Harry with renewed interest. "Ok, you got me interested. Where else do you want to play?"

"The Borisov Memorial Quidditch League – the BMQL. It features teams from Scandinavia, Balkans and some countries like Denmark, Holland, Romania. A grand total of sixty four teams and four sub-leagues. It's the third biggest quidditch league next to the Asian and the South-American ones. And, before you say it, they pick players from the age of 14 if they are good enough."

"And, just how are you planning to show them you are _good enough? _I don't see how you can convince them to give you a try-out. Besides, you are only twelve."

Harry looked at Sirius with the same condescending expression he, himself, had sported minutes ago. "I have at least two years before I reach the age of qualification for the senior league, Padfoot. BUT, there is a smaller semi-professional Junior Quidditch league affiliated with the BMQL for players between 12 and 17 years. The major teams use the junior league as a recruiting pool and occasionally pick players early to play in the senior league. My senior schoolmates play there and they say there is an open try-out for the junior league every January."

"Alright. I get you point. But, you have to be really, really good if you hope to earn as much as you think you can. Product endorsements and advertisements can earn you hundreds of thousands of galleons but they are only offered to the best. Being a pro-quidditch player won't be enough. You will have to be a quidditch superstar."

"I know, Sirius. I have given it a lot of thought and I have already scouted my classmates. Modesty aside, I am way better than any of them. All you have to do is get my parents' consent and leave the rest to me."

Harry and Sirius walked back to the maternity silently contemplating their conversation when they were interrupted by the elderly matron of the maternity ward rushing to them. "Oh, thank goodness, you are here. Mr. Black, can you get this form filled up by Mrs. Potter and her family. She just has to fill small details like her address, the baby's name and such; I've finished the rest. Normally, I'll have to do this personally but there is an emergency and I am in a rush. I have to submit this to the Ministry this evening and-"

"No problem, madam. I will take it to my mother and bring it personally to your desk", interrupted Harry with a charming smile.

The matron smiled at Harry, handed him the form, patted him on the head and rushed down the corridor to do god-knows-what.

Seeing the evil smile on Harry's face, Sirius wondered if the matron knew she had just condemned an innocent baby girl for a life of ridicule.

"_**CASSANDRA ANASTASIA THELMA NORMA INGRID POTTER?**__", _shrieked Lily as she read the letter of confirmation from the Ministry of Magic - Department of Records.

"Well, you can call her catnip for short", came the calm reply from the visibly unperturbed Harry.

Seeing the dumbfounded expression on the faces of the rest of his families, Harry responded with a huff, "What? It's not a bad name! Besides the brat deserves it for soiling my best robes."

"_IT IS MAGICALLY RECORDED IN THE MINISTRY BOOK OF RECORDS! NOW WE HAVE NO CHANCE OF EVER CHANGING IT! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID HARRY! AND STOP CALLING HER A BRAT!"_

Harry shrugged, "That was the idea"

Lily lost all her cool and the rest of the people in the room were thanking the heavens that her temper was not directed towards them. "HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU ARE GROUNDED!"

Harry rolled his eyes "I will be at school by tomorrow evening"

"**FOR LIFE**"

**February 11****th****, 1989**

Sirius smiled as he re-read the letter he had received from Harry the previous night. Sirius could practically feel the energy and excitement that Harry had tried to channel through his letter. It seemed as if Harry had been the first draft pick for the BMQL Junior League and was the starting chaser for the Copenhagen Juniors Team. He was scheduled to play his first match on the first weekend of March.

Now, all he needed to do was inform the Potters about Harry being selected for a quidditch team. Sirius grimaced as he remembered Lily telling him firmly that her son was not going to play what she dubbed as 'that barbaric sport which is a pathetic excuse designed perfectly to quench the bloodlust of wizards highlighted only by the stupidity of its ardent followers like you and my useless husband'. Sirius had only gotten her permission saying that no twelve year old would be selected and that she should give her permission just to appease Harry's interest.

**Durmstrang Institute of Magic**

**17****th**** December 1988**

Sirius Black sat in the waiting hall of the Durmstrang Institute of Magic for the third time that year. This time, however, he was waiting for his godson Harry to arrive with his bags so that they could go home for the Yule holidays. Originally, it was James who was supposed to pick him up but little Cassie was getting fussy and Lily had commandeered James' help in arranging the Christmas preparations. So, Sirius was elected to pick up Harry even though he never volunteered for it.

Sirius hated coming to Durmstrang. The journey to the institution itself was enough to support his claim. He would have to start a day early and make his way to Oslo and stay the night. Early next morning he would have to start north and find the outpost of the Norwegian Ministry of Magic in the middle of nowhere. After submitting his papers for a thorough inspection, he would need to wait a good couple of hours for the officials to confirm with the school before he would be allowed to take a floo ride to the gates of Durmstrang Institute of Magic. And if that's not bad enough, then he would have to take a half-mile trek from the gate to the castle through the blizzard. The weather was _horrible_ and the fact that it came from the mouth of an Englishman was a testament to the nature of the blizzard.

But what really irked him about coming to Durmstrang was that he would have to spend the entire trip fuming about Dumbledore. Harry deserved to go to Hogwarts. He deserved to experience everything his parents did. He deserved the chance to make Snivellus' life a living hell. He deserved the chance to drive the entire staff of Hogwarts nuts. And it was all robbed because one old man felt Harry would be a threat to his grand plans. Sirius couldn't fathom how Dumbledore felt that a twelve year old Harry could ruin his plans for the greater good.

Sirius was shaken out of his reverie by the approaching footfall of his godson. Sirius barely stifled the gasp that rose when he saw his godson stride into view. He looked absolutely awful. His robes were not in the usual pristine condition and his features screamed exhaustion. But what really troubled Sirius were his eyes. His eyes had a slightly haunted look – a look of profound weariness that Sirius hoped to never see in the eyes of a twelve year old. However, when Harry saw Sirius waiting for him, his exhaustion seemed to disappear. A smile appeared on his young face that would have fooled anyone except Sirius. In a flash, he was next to Harry.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Wrong? Nothing's wrong, Sirius? What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me, Harry", Sirius snapped angrily, "I know something's wrong. This is not you. I saw you before you noticed me. You are exhausted. You are drained. I know you are still getting used to school but no one should be _this_ tired from attending school. So, I'm asking you again, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Sirius", Harry answered with a roll of his eyes "You are just imagining things as usu-"

"I know I'm not imagining things, Harry", Sirius interrupted rudely "I know perfectly well that something is bothering you right now and you are trying, rather unsuccessfully might I add, to hide it."

"Fine", Harry snapped back "It's the weather. I'm used to cold and snow but this is ridiculous. It seems it snows around here throughout the year. Do you know how annoying that is? They don't even have fires for some reason and I find it difficult to sleep at night even if I'm bundled in wool."

Sirius took a deep breath to calm his nerves. His Harry was hurt and he was hiding it. He would get to the bottom of it, if it was the last thing he ever did.

"Harry, I know you very well – in fact, better than anyone else", Sirius spoke calmly trying to get Harry to co-operate "I know you won't let something like the cold get to you. I know you can cast a warming charm seeing as how I taught it to you a couple of years ago. So, I know that's not the issue. You've been here for more than a couple of months. So you should've settled in. But seeing that you've not done so, I'm wondering what else has you bothered? Is it the staff? Or the students perhaps? Are you not happy with this school?"

Harry just stood there glaring at his godfather. He seemed to neither agree nor disagree with Sirius' questions.

"Or perhaps you are feeling the strain of what I said to you? Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dump everything in your lap like that. It was foolish of me to expect a twelve year old to surpass each and every of my expectations. Just forget everything I said. I will find another way to counter Dumbledore's plans. We can withdraw from Durmstrang and I can continue to home-school you. Maybe next year, you can join Hogwarts. It's not really-"

"Sirius, stop"

Sirius stopped abruptly upon noticing Harry's stance. He could sense the change in the boy. Gone was the exhausted little boy. The person in front of him was not the same boy he was five minutes ago. His posture had changed. He looked older; more threatening. He was no longer tired or frustrated. The boy in front of him was angry – a kind of calm anger that usually is seen in people far more mature than what his age suggested. His voice had gone soft with an undertone of steely determination in it.

"First things first; you didn't make me do anything. You just gave me the details, nothing more. I'm not your toy. I'm not going to stop what I do because you suddenly feel that I'm too young or I'm feeling the strain of the enormity of the task in front of me. I know my limits just as I know my abilities. I know when I'm stretching myself too much and I don't need you to tell me."

Taking a deep breath, Harry continued, "I didn't come to Durmstrang because of you. I chose to attend here because **I** wanted to be here. I don't care how harsh the environment is or what problems I've to face. It was my decision and I'm not going to back away at the first signs of trouble. Admitting that this institution is harsh is like admitting that I'm a loser. That's something I never want to do."

Sirius listened dumbstruck to the soft-spoken voice coming from the young man in front of him. It was at that instant that Sirius discarded all his original plans for the boy. Even though he had said that he would let Harry do everything in his own way, Sirius knew deep in his heart that practically it was impossible. After all, the boy wasn't even in his teens yet. Sirius had a long-term plan for Harry. He had meticulously planned what Harry should be doing at every age. He had only told Harry to work it all out on his own to stir up the rebel in the boy – make him more independent and take some control of his own life. But now, it was painfully apparent to Sirius that steering the boy towards what he wanted was impossible. Harry James Potter was in control of his future.

Without another word, Harry turned around and started walking away. When he was ten paces away, Sirius broke out of his stupor and called out, "Hey, where are you going? I'm supposed to take you home for Christmas. We should leave now."

Without turning around, Harry replied, "I have work to do and I am not going to waste ten precious days opening presents or jumping around like a hyper-kid waiting for Santa. Go find someone else to volunteer"

"Bu-But, I'm supposed to pick you up. What am I supposed to say to your parents?" Sirius cried.

Harry stood still for a moment before he shrugged and said, "Tell them that I love Durmstrang so much that I am not willing to come home even for the holidays. You can lie convincingly, I know you can. Oh, tell them not to bother for the Easter holidays as well"

"Harry! Don't do this. You are cutting yourself off from the rest of your family. Nothing is worth that!"

Harry simply ignored Sirius and walked back to his dorm.


	8. The other side of the coin part I

**THE KING**

**BY**

**SERAPH ORION BLACK**

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Harry Potter – canon characters, original plot etc. I do not profit from using anything from JKR's works. Everything belongs to JKR, Bloomsbury etc.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for the reviews.

I couldn't help but notice that more than a couple of you have wondered why I have confirmed again and again that Harry is dead. Well, for starters, that's the truth. This whole story is not about Harry's life. It's about his death.

This story is about the secrets behind Harry's decisions leading u pto his execution. Why did he do everything that Alex stated? Why didn't he go for a more legal route in getting his revenge? Why did he murder so many people? Why it was not connected to him during that time? What did they do to deserve their death? If Harry was guilty of so many murders then why did Alex have such a reverence when he was talking about Harry? What role did Albus Dumbledore play in everything?

I have to say that, it would be pretty dumb to have him pull the whole '_faking-the-death_' thingy. Yes, Harry could've simply escaped and lived his life in some other country even after he had committed the murders. But he surrendered knowing well and actually expecting to be killed. The questions you have to ask is what made Harry come to this decision. What made Alex let him go through with the confession? What was Sirius' doing in this? How did no one notice the changes in Harry?

The point of the entire fic is to provide answers to such questions. Even now, some of you may have problems with the thought of Harry dying. The importance of his death is that it was used to hide a lot of war secrets; secrets that Harry was ready to give his life to protect.

**Sasparilla89: **Thank you. You've just said what I wanted to say. I will try to rewrite chapter 2

For others who have reviewed my story, THANK YOU! Sorry for the long delay in updating. I will try to update more regularly!

_**Last chapter**_, we went up to the summer of 1993 – which is the summer before the third year for the canon Harry. In this chapter however, we rewind back to some of the episodes that show the other side of Harry's home life. _The other side of the coin_ is all about the previously unknown aspects of Harry's life that he tried to hide from his family. We will not be going in detail, just snippets of events which only explain the kind of dual life that Harry led during his schooling. You may not be able to perceive much from these seemingly disconnected chain of events but they only serve to emphasise the dichotomy of his character.

**Chapter 7**

**The other side of the coin – Part I**

**1****st**** July 1989**

**Potter Manor**

Alex, Andrew, Rose and Evie knocked timidly on Harry's bedroom door. Harry had come home for the summer holidays only day before yesterday. He had not been home for the Yule or Easter holidays which had made the holidays disappointing. Their mother had spent most of the holidays crying even if she never did it in front of them. But now that Harry was back, their mother had a spring in their step.

The younger kids always knew that Harry was different. He had the audacity to do some things that they would never do – like start a food fight with Sirius on Christmas Eve. He was closer to Sirius and even behaved like him most of the time.

Most important of all, Harry was allowed out of the house while they were not. The younger children did not have much of a problem with that. They had each other while Harry didn't have anyone closer to their age. They understood when their mother explained it to them. It hurt though, that Harry got to make friends and play quidditch while they weren't.

Still, Harry was their brother and they missed him in the one year he had been away at school.

"Come in" The voice answered from inside.

The four opened the door and trooped into the room to see Harry lazing on the bed reading a quidditch magazine. Harry had changed in the one year he had been away. It was as though he had grown colder to them. Previously, he had ignored his siblings like any teenage boy. But now, there was something else. It wasn't hatred but there was something else.

Harry frowned at the kids in front of him.

"What is it? Is mom calling us for lunch?"

Evie and Rose rolled their eyes simultaneously and replied, "It's only eleven o'clock. You had breakfast only a couple of hours ago"

"So? I can't have lunch now? I am a growing boy. I need my proteins and stuff"

"No. We just wanted to talk to you"

Harry's frown deepened, "Talk to me? About what?"

"You know", Alex spoke shyly, "About school and stuff. Do you like it there?"

"Yeah", Evie continued, "Is the school good? Do you have friends?"

Harry's frown didn't let up, "What is this? Spanish Inquisition? I have some work to do. Shoo. Go and play house or whatever it is you kids play?"

The kids' feelings were hurt by Harry shooing them out of his room but Alex asked hopefully, "What about evening? Wanna play a game of chess? Or gobstones, maybe?"

"Nah", Harry answered with a grin on his face, "Gotta go and meet my old friends for a good old game of quidditch"

Harry slammed the door in their faces leaving the gobsmacked children wondering about what just happened.

**1****st**** July 1989**

**Potter Manor**

_**Lily Potter's POV**_

I sigh to myself once again as I fail to contain my excitement. My baby is back. Harry has finally come home for summer holidays. I missed my little angel. Well, he wouldn't exactly be happy to be called a little angel but what can I say – _he is my little angel_. I missed him throughout the year – probably even more during the Christmas and Easter breaks. I was hurt when Harry refused to come home for the holidays. I know he said that he had studying to do but I think he is still angry at me and James about the whole Durmstrang thing. I know it may seem unfair to Harry but I had no other choice. I would've resigned from my post at Hogwarts instantly if it hadn't been for Dumbledore.

Dumbledore promised me that he would allow me to resign as soon as he found a replacement. But that man has so much on his plate handling the Wizengamot, the new Minister of Magic and the ICW to spend time looking for an Ancient Runes professor. Besides, he already has to search for a new DADA professor every year. If I didn't know any better I'd say that DADA position is cursed. In the end, it was Harry who had to sacrifice his position at Hogwarts. I don't like that. I hate myself for putting my baby in that position.

James wasn't much of a help either. So, if Harry wanted to go to Durmstrang, why not let him? Why make all that fuss over nothing? It's not Harry's fault that Hogwarts wasn't an option to him. As if going to Durmstrang would make my baby all dark and evil. I love my husband and all but he can be a bit dense and insensitive at times.

Harry. I sigh to myself again. He is everything I swore none of my children will ever be. Loud, rude and has a penchant for trouble-making and annoying everyone around him. Still, I love him. What can I say? After all, he is my first-born. Though, I'd never, ever, ever, EVER admit it to anyone ESPECIALLY the marauders, I secretly love all the mischief that Harry does. I may yell at him endlessly about the trouble he causes but it's kinda cute to see him with that mischievous smirk on his face when he is goofing off with that godfather of his. The only time this house is filled with laughter and joy is when he is home.

Harry reminds me of everything James was before he shaped up. Well someday, Harry might shape up too. Until then, I will content myself with yelling at him while secretly enjoying his antics.

Our house has been silent – too silent to my liking, in the year he has been away at school. My other kids are the sweetest little angels but I wonder sometimes if I am too harsh on them. I want them to be the perfect little boys and girls and grow up to be model citizens. I want to be called a good mother for raising the most polite children. Is it wrong of a mother to expect that from her children? Am I demanding too much from them? Am I repressing them somehow? I don't know the answer. I hope I'm doing the right thing. But, comparing them to Harry, I can't help but wonder to myself – am I doing the right thing? Am I suppressing my children too much in the name of discipline and manners?

Harry. I sigh again. He has this tendency to make me think like this. It's not his fault. I am still not sure if I am too lenient with Harry or too strict with the others. I'm not even sure why I'm not more strict with Harry. Should I make an effort to rein him in a bit? I snort to myself. _Yeah, right_. _Like that could ever happen._ Still, I can see the strain my confusion has caused between Harry and his siblings. Alex, Andrew and the girls may deny all they want but I can see it in their eyes. They are jealous of him. And I can't fault them either. Yes, Harry does have this tendency to evoke such emotions in other people.

Before I know it, I am knocking on Harry's bedroom door and opening it only to be almost blasted back by the noise coming from his room. I take a moment to get my wildly thumping heart to calm down a bit and look around the room. Harry was sitting in front of the desk with piles of parchment and books in front of him. I can see him twirl his quill as he is thinking. I could've lost myself at the sight of my troublemaker son so dutifully doing his homework if it wasn't for the cacophony of yells and shrieks coming from the record player accompanied by the guitar music that sounded like fingernails scratching across a blackboard and drum-beats trying to blast my ears off.

I've listened to some horrible music in my teenage years and they could never be compared to this abomination.

With a smooth flick of my wand, the music player is switched off. I nod with satisfaction and turn to look at my son scowling at me.

"_What is that noise_?"

He shrugs at me. "New music. It's the super hard rock"

"Super hard rock?" '_Now that's something I've never heard before_' I think to myself.

"Yep", he answers, "It's for people for whom hard rock just isn't enough!"

I try hard. Really hard. I do. But I can't suppress the smile from showing up on my face.

"Where do you get all this stuff from? I have never heard of it before."

Harry gives me one of those looks. "Of course, you haven't heard of this stuff. This is the music for the youth. Young people like me. Not old people like you."

My smile vanishes and I feel the first stirrings of anger and frustration. Did I mention that sometimes he really does make me angry sometimes? He is NOT supposed to call me old. I mean, I may be a mother to six children but that doesn't make me old.

Or, maybe it does. Grrr… HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO CALL ME OLD!

I try real hard to keep the annoyance off my face and ask, "Where did you get it?"

Harry replies, "My dorm-mate gave it to me as Christmas gift. He has loads of this music. In fact, he gave a copy of this record to each and every one of my dorm-mates."

I sit down on the bed and try to start a conversation with him. I haven't done that with him for the longest time. "He is a big fan of this… this _super-hard-rock_ music then?"

Harry shrugs again and replies, "Maybe. But I think he only listens to this music because two people in the band are his cousins. Or maybe he didn't want to spend all his money on gifts and decided to give us the free records from his cousins."

"Hey, you shouldn't talk like that. Maybe your friend wanted all of you to listen to his cousins' music and promote them or something."

"Huh? Maybe you are right. It's not like anyone is actually buying these records. In fact, my friends and I probably have the only copies of this music other than the band-members. Hell, I haven't even heard Ivan listen to this."

I smile at my son. "So, what are you doing?"

"My transfiguration assignment."

"Your transfiguration assignment?" I ask sceptically. Harry is not exactly the type to sit and do any work not related to something about pranks. Don't get me wrong, he is brilliant in magic or at least that's what Sirius says. But, I don't think he is the type to sit down and start on his transfiguration assignment on the first week of his summer holidays. It would be too nerdy for him. Something fishy is going on here.

"Of course, my transfiguration assignment! What else would I do? Padfoot's laundry list?"

"Hey, I was just surprised, Okay! I didn't think you'd actually start your assignments this early. I thought you'd want to visit all your friends and leave the homework to the last day of the holidays." I said smiling to myself.

Harry shrugged, "That's what I planned. But, I figured why not do it early and be done with it? These are not my summer assignments anyway so I don't have to do it in the typical summer assignment fashion"

Now, I'm surprised. Really, really surprised. "These are not your summer assignments? What are they? Papers for extra credit?" I am jumping with joy inside and I can barely contain my squeal of excitement. My baby is acting all scholarly. I'm sooo proud.

Harry shook his head. "I turned in all my summer assignments before I left school. These are the assignments for next year."

"Assignments for next year?" I'm sure I look a little hyper.

"Yeah. My professors gave me a list of assignments and said that if I can turn them in on the first week of the next term, I will be exempted from all assignments next year. I'm only doing this so that I can skip all assignments next year. Less hassle that way. And it gives me more time to plan all the pranks I want to play!"

I squeal and tackle my baby in a hug. I can't believe I'm squealing. I thought that squealing and giggling are for teenagers. Apparently not. I think Harry is freaked out by my sudden squeal and hug, but I don't care about it right now. I'm sooo happy. And proud. I'm sooo ecstatic that I let go the remark about the pranks for the time being. I can yell at him for that comment later.

When I pull back from the hug, I can see Harry looking at me with trepidation.

"If you are going to make such weird noises and hug me like that every time I do something right, then I'm going to be a good-for-nothing street bum. I will never, EVER do a single piece of homework and I will NEVER, EVER study. And I'm not joking"

I punch him lightly on the shoulder knowing well that he was only joking. My baby Harry being a street bum. Ha, in someone else's dreams maybe.

"So, where are your brothers and sisters? They were all so impatient to see you come home after a long time. They missed you terribly. Especially, Rosie and Evie."

Harry frowns at me. Definitely not a good sign.

"Why? Why would they miss me?"

I sigh to myself. Here is another prime example of the fact that the stupidity of men when it comes to people's emotions is not simply limited to the Marauders. It applies to all males irrespective of age.

"Harry. They are your sisters and they love you very much. They haven't seen you for ten months. Of course, they would miss you. In fact, where are your brothers and sisters? I thought they would be all over you questioning you everything about Durmstrang?"

Harry looked at me replied, "Yeah. They were here an hour ago, asking all kinds of questions about Durmstrang. _How is school? Who is my favourite teacher? Do I have a lot of friends?_ I told them not to annoy me coz I had work to do"

I gasped. "Harry! Why did you do that? Your sisters wanted to be with you because they missed you and they ask all the questions because they want to know all about their big brother's school. You hurt their feeling."

Harry shrugged unconcerned. "It's no use. It's not as if any of them is ever going to Durmstrang. I am the only one who is ever going to be denied the chance to attend Hogwarts, isn't it? There is no way that any other child of yours is not going to Hogwarts"

I do not know how to respond. He is venturing into one of the topics that I do not want to go into, ever. What he says is true. Alex, being the next oldest, will be attending Hogwarts in two years. I don't see the British magical government letting their boy-who-lived attend a foreign school because of one of their archaic rule. Either the rule will be scraped or Alex will be exempted from the rule. At the least, I will be asked to step down from the teaching position at Hogwarts. Any of this response will look to Harry as if I'm showing favouritism to my second child because he is the boy-who-lived. And that puts me in a very uncomfortable position of answering Harry's question. I really should have resigned at the end of last school year.

"Harry…" I try to answer but not really sure what I want to say. He is fixing me with a look that makes me feel very, very uncomfortable. Like I said, Harry has the ability to make you feel such emotions.

"Just leave me alone. I have work to do. Durmstrang may not be Hogwarts but it is still a very good institution with a fine reputation. The professors there do not mind that I'm not my parent's favourite son. When they give me some work, they expect me to finish it. I am going to do that, don't disturb me."

I want to scream – yell out my denial. Harry is not my least favourite son. All my children are equally important to me. But I can see that Harry is angry now. No matter, what I say, he won't change. I will have to give him some time to cool down and then explain everything to him. "Just know that I love you, Harry."

I give Harry a sad look and leave the room.

**Harry's POV**

I watch my mother give me a sad look and leave the room without offering any explanation. I know she does not have favourites. She treats all her children equally or at least tries to do it better than my father. I know it was wrong of me to accuse her like that. But I'm not going to feel sorry. In fact, I'm feeling oddly satisfied. I'm happy with my performance. I have successfully guilt-tripped her. I used her resident guilt about me not going to Hogwarts against her. Some people may call that cruel. I call that a very useful skill.

You see, I want to be a successful wizard. More successful than anyone else. Even more than Dumbledore and Voldemort. Some call me ambitious, some call me mad. I don't care. I get what I want. I know that, to reach that height I must be ruthless. I must use every tool in my disposal to advance myself. Right now, I'm only twelve. I don't have any skill worth mentioning. So, I am developing one. Emotional blackmail is a cruel tool but very effective with people who love you. I didn't know it a year ago but I am learning. The small episode with my mother was just one of my first practice sessions. By the look of hurt on her face as she left, I have to say I'm doing a good job.

I know what I'm doing is cruel. But I can't help it. There may be a time in the future, where I will be forced to use guilt-tripping to get what I want. I will do it definitely, I will not hesitate.

What about my mother? Does she deserve to be a target-practice for my most unusual training? I do not care. She is a grown woman; an adult. She will have to learn to live with that. Being a parent to me is a very hard job.

I turn towards the record player and stare at it. The player is taunting me. I know I should switch it on but I dither. The truth is that the music is awful. Ivan's cousins have the worst taste in music. If I hear it for another couple of hours, I will go insane. Why am I listening to it then?

Simple. It's another exercise of mine. I want my transfiguration assignment to be perfect. I do not want my Professor to find any fault with it. I want it to be perfect. No, I want it to be beyond perfect. It's not hard. Writing a foot of parchment about practical applications of Gamp's principles of transfiguration is not the most challenging task in the world. With the right reference books, I can produce the perfect essay in about an hour.

However, the loud music from the record is a nice distraction. It makes me want to rip the essay I'm writing and proceed to bash the record player. The purpose of me actually listening to the music and writing the assignment at the same time is to resist this temptation. It may sound very easy but concentrating on Gamp's principles while Ivan's cousins yell into my ears requires a supreme effort. I want to do it. I want the ability to concentrate on a matter in the midst of unbearable chaos and this is how I'm training myself.

Most people would think that I'm insane. They'd say that if I want to be a successful wizard, I should put all my effort into learning magic. Well, any schmuck with a wand and half-a-brain can learn transfiguration and charms. Waving a wand and shouting Latin words is easy and you can do it if you memorise things from a spellbook. Its things like these that make a difference in the real world.

I will make a difference in the real world.

**END of Harry POV**

**December 19, 1989**

**Koln, Germany**

Karl Brandenburg stood from his chair in his living room as two boys stepped out of the fireplace followed shortly by his wife, Ana who was escorting them from school. He watched as his son Ivan brushed the soot from his shirt and turn to greet him in rapid German. Karl smiled as he replied in kind and hugged his only son. Karl's attention was then diverted to the young man standing near them.

"Welcome to our home, Mr. Potter. It's a pleasure to finally meet. Ivan has talked a lot about you. I'm very happy to see you join us for this Yule holidays", he greeted the boy in perfect English.

Karl was the Vice-Chancellor of the Wizarding Reich in Berlin and was an expert in over a dozen languages, as his position in the German magical government demanded it.

Harry looked at the man standing in front of him. This was the first step in his quest to building a ring of influential allies for himself. Karl Brandenburg was known publicly as the Vice-Chancellor of magical Germany but what most people didn't know was the influence of the Brandenburg family. They have always been an influential family with some of its members having served in both the German government and the ICW. The Brandenburgs were the foremost family that opposed the policies of Gellert Grindelwald. They had been targeted by that dark lord over it and lost a big chunk of the family to him. This had only made their resolve stronger.

It was the Brandenburg family that united such influential families from throughout Europe to oppose Grindelwald. It was Karl's grandfather that had convinced Albus Dumbledore to fight against him.

While Albus Dumbledore was hailed as the savior of the world from the clutches of Grindelwald, the Brandenburg family and their allies had used their considerable influence to grasp the power vacuum. The four-decade war with Grindelwald and the two muggle great wars had weakened most of the European countries and Germany was the most affected. Karl's father, being elected as the Chancellor, had led his country from ruins to prosperity adding fame to their already illustrious name. Brandenburgs were considered to be near-royalty. What went unnoticed was that all of their allies in Europe had done the same.

The Wizard-leaders of most of the Balkan countries were the allies of Brandenburgs – a relationship that was only strengthened by inter-marriage. Karl could say that wizard-leaders of the Balkans were either related to him directly or through marriage.

This was an unadvertised fact, of course. But, Sirius being the scion of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Black had been taught about European politics by his parents and as such knew about the Brandenburgs and their allies. It was one of the reasons he had encouraged Harry to befriend young Ivan Brandenburg. Karl Brandenburg was the ticket to Harry's success.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, sir. And thanks for inviting me to stay for the holidays. I hope my presence is not interfering a family gathering" The greeting from Harry was firm and polite as was his hand-shake. Karl was surprised. By experience, he knew that most of the teenagers were clumsy and clueless when it came to meeting strangers, especially people like him. Harry had impressed him with his first greeting.

Karl waved off the concern. "It's a pleasure having friends of Ivan over, so that we could get to know them too. You must be tired, Mr. Potter. Ivan will show you your room. We will talk after dinner."

Nina Brandenburg watched her husband observe the young man with a critical eye. As the two boys left, she raised an eyebrow at her husband's contemplative expression.

"_You approve of him then?_" Nina asked in German.

Karl chuckled as he walked into his study with his wife following him. Settling in his chair, he looked at his wife and replied, "_I've spoken to the boy for about ten seconds, Nina._"

"_Yes_", Nina smiled at her husband, "_But you have had his school records for over a year and talked to all his teachers. In fact, you have talked to the professors of Durmstrang more about Harry than your own son. You must know a lot about him by now._"

Karl smiled at his wife. She knew him too well.

"I wanted to know about my only son's friends, Nina. I wanted to know if he was worthy of being a friend of a Brandenburg. Our son is still naïve and there are a lot of people who will take advantage of him. Besides, I want my son's friends to be special."

"_What have you learnt then?_" Nina asked as she made herself comfortable in the chair in front of his desk.

"_I've learnt that in the few times you've met him, you've grown to love him like your own son_" Karl chuckled at the indignant expression on his wife's face. It was true that in the short time that Nina had met young Harry, she had come to treat him as her own son.

Karl looked at Nina and started talking. "_Harry James Potter is the eldest son of James Potter, a British auror and Lily Potter, a teacher at Hogwarts. He has three sisters and two brothers. The Potters are a moderately wealthy family – enough to live by comfortably but not enough to be considered a fortune. His younger brother, Alex, is the famous boy-who-lived, although not much information is known about him publicly._"

"_Harry is perhaps the most extra-ordinary student, I and most of the Durmstrang staff have ever met. He is un-naturally intelligent and a very hard worker – top of his class, no doubt. He is friendly with all his classmates – not just Ivan. Popular with his peers and gifted in quidditch. Ivan said that he has a good knowledge of politics and the current affairs of the world. A strange habit for a twelve year old but not unheard of. All in all he will be successful if he gets a chance. The question is will he live up to his abilities?"_

Nina looked at her husband in slight shock. That was perhaps the most accurate summary of Harry's life. "_And what do you intend to do about it?_"

Karl looked at his wife as if the answer should be obvious. "_If Ivan has decided that Harry is his best friend then perhaps it's time for young Harry to succeed and build a name for himself. I want my son's friends to be popular and I will provide Harry the chance to do so. Otherwise, he does not deserve to be my son's best-friend._"

"_What are you going to do, Karl? Don't you think it's too early to arrange such things for Harry?_"

Karl chuckled. "_I find it unusual that Harry is attending Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts. I am sure Albus Dumbledore has a hand in it._ _Whatever ulterior motive it maybe, we have in our hands pure talent and a drive to improve himself in this boy. It would be a criminal waste to not give him the chance to perform up to his potential."_

"_Besides_, _I'm not arranging Harry's career, Nina. I'm giving it a subtle nudge here and there. Ivan said something about Harry trying out for the Senior Quidditch league. Maybe, I will put in a word with one of the scouts and see if I can get him a spot in the team, at least a reserve. It will be the first chance for Harry to be a pro-quidditch player. I will see how he handles a bit of success and fame before I open more avenues to him. If he strives to improve himself and has the maturity to not lose himself in his new-found popularity, then I will see to his future successes._"

"_Why are you doing this, Karl? What is it about Harry that makes you want to help him like this?"_

"_Harry is a talent to be used, Nina. With the right guidance and motivation, he will be a very powerful figure in the future. By doing this for Harry, I am winning his loyalty and allegiance. Ivan will always have a powerful friend to back him up in the future. So, I am not really helping Harry. I am only securing our son's future."_

"_I hope you know what you are doing, Karl."_

"_Me too, Nina. Me too"_

**Meanwhile,**

**In another part of the house,**

Harry waited until his godfather's face appeared in the mirror.

"I'm in the Brandenburg house. Phase one of our plan is a success. I've made contact with Karl Brandenburg"


	9. The other side of the coin Part II

**The King**

**By**

**Seraph Orion Black**

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Harry Potter. That's it.

**Author's Note: **I am disappointed. I honestly expected more reviews.

Anyway, for those who reviewed, a BIG thank you.

I've made some pretty big changes to the story. I scrapped off the first chapter which most people didn't like. I hope you like the new prologue. I hope it sets the tone for the rest of the story.

I also re-did the entire last two chapters. When I read chapters six and seven, I really got confused with the timeline myself. It was going back and forth so many times, it looked as if I had put up something randomly. Hopefully these edited chapters will make more sense.

The point I'm trying to make from chapters six, seven and eight is that – for those at the Potter home Harry is a typical teenager. He doesn't like to hang out with his younger brothers and sisters.

BUT, everything he does has a meaning. THAT is what I'm trying to convey.

**Chapter 8**

**The Other Side of the coin – II**

**Potter Manor**

**2****nd**** July 1991**

The nearly-three-year-old Cassie Potter had known her entire family for the whole three years of her life. Her daddy worked as an '_auwor', _according to her. She only got to see him during breakfast and dinner since he was always busy during the day catching the bad guys. Her mommy worked at the _Hogw-thingy _and saw her for a few hours every day. Mommy would come home from work every day around five in the evening and play with her for a couple of hours and tuck her in every night and sing to her and read stories.

Alex, Rosie, Evie and Andy were all always in the house and played with her every day. She loved them all dearly.

She also loved her Uncles Moony and Padfoot. Her uncle Padfoot told great stories and could turn into a BIG dog! She named him snuffles. Alex and Andy sniggered at that but she liked that name. It was cute. Too bad he couldn't turn into a puppy coz then he would be sooo cute! They came over at least once a week and played with her. Uncle Moony even taught her how to play fetch with Uncle Padfoot. It was fun to throw a ball and have snuffles run and bring it back for her.

Of course, there was one member of her family that she did not know very well. Harry was her big brother! Her mommy had said so. He was away at school and came home only for the summer. Of course, when Harry had come home last summer, she had still been a baby but she was three now! She was a big girl and she decided that she was old enough to get to know her big brother.

Harry had come over last night but she hadn't seen him yet. It was so unfair of Mommy making her go to bed at eight. It just wasn't fair.

Cassie woke up at six-thirty in the morning. Her parents were still sleeping next to her. Technically, Cassie was sharing a room with Rosie and Evie but she always slept next to her mommy and daddy. The girl started to jump on the bed until Lily decided she had enough and woke up.

Cassie waited patiently for her mommy to brush her teeth and get ready. She let her mommy brush her teeth and dress her without making any fuss.

The minute Lily was satisfied with her baby girl's appearance, the girl took off. She raced up the stairs to the first floor where Harry's room was and banged the door open.

There was a lump on the bed that was groaning at the noise made by the banging door and trying to snuggle deeper into the mattress. But, Cassie would have none of that. She grabbed hold of the quilt and pulled with all her might. To her surprise, it came free revealing a thirteen year old boy curled up in the bed trying hard to ignore the distractions and concentrate on sleeping.

"Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup!Wakeup! Wakeup!Wakeup!"

Harry couldn't bear hearing the chant anymore and cracked open an eye to see the little girl bouncing on her toes standing next to the bed.

"Who are you, pipsqueak?", mumbled a sleepy Harry. The journey back from Durmstrang last night had been long and Harry wanted to crawl back into bed and not wake up until lunch. Fate, it seemed, wanted to interfere in the form of the little girl.

Cassie frowned. He wasn't supposed to ask her that question. He was supposed to remember her. "M'Cassie and I'm three years old", she said proudly counting three fingers on her right hand and then showing them to Harry to emphasis her point.

"Catnip?", Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, "Well, you've certainly grown up from the last time I saw you"

He got up from the bed and started to go the bathroom to get started for the day. His sleep was now ruined and he would have to try again later, perhaps after lunch.

Cassie frowned. "I'm not Catnip. I'm Cassie."

Harry turned to smile at the little girl who was standing with her fists on her waist glaring at Harry. "Sure it is, _Catnip_"

Harry left for the bathroom smiling to himself as he heard the little girl yell, "I'M NOT CATNIP. T'IS CASSIE!", while stomping her feet.

Maybe his summer wouldn't be so boring after all.

**30 June 1991**

**Potter Manor **

Over a million people were gathered to witness one of the biggest life-changing events in the history of both the magical and the mundane world, as leaders of over a hundred countries – kings & queens, Ministers, Presidents, religious leaders and other politicians congregated to honour the biggest hero of all time. Reporters from every corner of the world were there to cover the event as it was televised live throughout the world in every single channel.

An old wizard dressed in resplendent white and gold robe raised his hand and the entire crowd – both magical and mundane – which was screaming its throat raw, became silent in anticipation.

"Good people of the world," the wizard spoke in a magically amplified voice, "as a fellow citizen of the world and as a representative of all the gathered authorities from all the magical and muggle governments of the world, it is my honour and duty to confer this realm to its new and rightful Sovereign!"

The wizard, Bob, then turned to a fourteen-year old Harry Potter sitting on the throne in the centre of the massive stage and draped a royal purple and gold robe with intricate designs over his shoulders. He then placed a golden crown embedded with every gem known to mankind on Harry's head. He then handed Harry a sceptre made of pure gold with a big fat diamond on top of it and declared: "I hereby proclaim thee, Lord Harry James Potter, First true Head of the newly instated Ancient, Noble, Brave, Honourable, Royal and Imperial House of Potter and further proclaim thee as the King Harry the First and the Only One, the one true sovereign of the Universe, the defender of mankind, the harbinger of peace and the messenger of the heavens. I proclaim thee, King Harry the First, the king of the world. Long live the King"

The crowd exploded in cheers applauding, whistling and screaming its throat raw as Harry stood up in his newly donned royal robes and crown and raised his sceptre. Harry frowned for a second as he looked at the robes he was wearing and decided to change the colour of the royal robes the first thing next morning.

Only when he looked back at the crowd, did he realise that most of the crowd – no, scratch that – the entire crowd was completely female. The other thing that made Harry very happy was that each and every single female in the crowd appeared to be under thirty years of age and of course, stunningly beautiful. He sighed in happiness. It felt good to be Harry James Potter. Now all he needed to do was to proclaim that according to the ancient laws he should be given a harem.

"Hawwy! Hawwy! Hawwy! Hawwy! Hawwy!"

Harry frowned at the chant in everyone's tongue. It was odd that everyone was mispronouncing his name in unison. Maybe it was a new nickname his overly affectionate and amorous subjects had bestowed upon him? He would have to investigate-

Harry woke up with a jerk when he felt someone yanking his hand. It took him a whole minute to realise that being declared the King of the world was all a dream. He sighed. These people – his idiotic family - wouldn't even let him have a good dream.

Grumbling to himself, Harry moved to a sitting position and looked around the room only to find his baby sister standing beside the bed looking at him with wide, innocent eyes. His eyes darted to the bedside clock and he noticed with annoyance that it was only two thirty in the morning. Harry wondered what the nearly three year old girl was doing in the middle of the night in his room and expressed his doubts in a single word in a near growl, "WHAT?".

Two and a half year old Cassie Potter answered in a near whimper, "Bwad dweam"

Harry frowned, "So? Why didn't you wake someone else and why the hell are you in my room? Leave me alone, catnip."

"I 'was sleeping in Rosie-n-Evie's room. I twied to wake them but they won't. I was scawed", the girl was sniffling with big fat tears threatening to escape her eyes. The little girl was so cute that anyone else would have wanted to gather the girl in a hug and protect her from the world.

Harry, however, was completely unfazed. "Bad dream, no one would budge in their sleep, I get it. But what are you doing in my room? Why didn't you go wake someone else? Like mum or dad?"

Sniffling a bit, the girl replied, "Don wanna disturb 'em".

Harry's eyebrows went up and he asked, "You didn't wake anyone else up because you didn't want to disturb them?"

Seeing the girl nod, he continued, "But you woke me up and disturbed me?"

The girl nodded again. Harry sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Sometimes real-life wasn't as great as fantasy. Turning back to the waiting girl, he snapped, "Why me, catnip?"

The girl replied immediately with the same wide innocent expression in her eyes, "Coz you are a meanie 'n I wanna disturb you. Uncle Siri said t'sallwight to annoy you."

Harry was flabbergasted. He had absolutely no answer to the girl's answer. Growling at the sniffling girl, Harry merely rolled to his side and went back to sleep.

"YEEEEOOOOOOOWWW!"

Harry bolted out of the bed yelping in pain and inspected his throbbing right hand. He could clearly see a set of crescent shaped angry red bite-marks just above his wrists. Shaking his head in disbelief, Harry turned to his right and saw Cassie Potter still standing there stubbing the floor with her toes and her arms behind her back and an all too innocent expression on her face.

"YOU BIT ME, BRAT!"

The girl nodded and replied, "Only coz you were a meanie!"

Harry gaped at the little girl and her reply. Shaking his head, he replied, "Either you've been spending time around Padfoot or you are plain crazy, catnip, coz you've started a war."

The girl pouted with her bottom lip sticking out cutely and asked, "Hawwy, pweeaaaase! Can I sleep in your room? I won't disturb you no more! Pwease! Pretty pwease!"

Harry chose to ignore the pouting girl who, by now, had tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

"No"

Harry tried to roll over and go back to sleep but he immediately noticed the devil-child approach him with the intent of biting a chunk out of his arm. Briefly wondering whether her vampiric urges popped up all the time, Harry rolled out of her reach and held his palm in front in an 'I-surrender' gesture. He didn't want to waste anymore of his sleep. That and her teeth fucking hurt him.

"Alright, alright, what do you want?"

"Can I swleep in your room? Pwease!"

Harry sighed. The sacrifices he had to make to get a decent night's sleep in his own house. He sighed again. It would so ruin his reputation in school, if his friends found out that he was acting as a cuddle-toy for his baby sister. His budding 'bad-boy' image would be in the drains.

"Alright, get in"

The girl giggled and replied cheerfully, "Thank you, Harry!"

"Whatever! Just don't ever, EVER mention this to anyone, especially Sirius, alright?"

The girl nodded and immediately jumped on the bed and gave Harry a big hug, adding to his woes. Harry extinguished the lights and went back to sleep. Just before sleep claimed him, he mumbled, "You better not wet the bad, brat!"

**The Next Morning**

_CLICK! FLASH_

Harry frowned at the sound and the light. He was pretty sure that it was a sunny day yesterday and wondered why the hell there was lightning inside his bedroom. But, he was still tired and sleepy and didn't want to wake up to investigate.

"Awww, how cute!"

Ignoring his godfather's voice and the accompanying snickers, Harry hugged the warmth covering his chest even closer and tried to go back to sleep, his mind completely unaware what or rather who he was hugging.

After a minute or two of continuous light flashes and incessant snickering, Harry gave in to the inevitable and cracked open an eye. Sirius was standing next to his bed with a camera in his hand and smirking evilly. His mother and sisters were standing near the door trying desperately to stifle the giggles that was threatening to escape.

Turning his attention back to his godfather, Harry raised an eyebrow as if to ask '_what?_'

Sirius smirked at his godson before his features morphed into a pathetic imitation of a puppy-dog expression and pleaded in a mock-whimpering one, "Pwease Hawwy, I am sooo scared… Can I have a hug too? Pwease! Pwetty Pwease!"

However, Harry's attention was riveted to the small form of his baby sister now curled up in his chest, hugging him around his neck and snuggling deep into his embrace. Harry grimaced when he realised that he too had been hugging the girl closer to him as if trying to protect her from some horrible nightmare. It was a too noble, responsible and… _older-brotherly_ gesture that Harry immediately felt ashamed of. His bad-boy reputation was definitely going down-hill if his friends found out about this _cheesy_ _travesty._

Looking his godfather in the eye, Harry demanded, "Padfoot, you had better destroy any copy of the pictures you just took or you will find me disrupting every possible date you may find. I'm sure you remember what I'm talking about."

Sirius looked as if he was going to laugh in Harry's face but paled when he realised what Harry was capable of. Before Lily or her daughters could protest Sirius hastily tore open the back-cover of the camera and clawed out the now-exposed film desperate to prove to his godson who had his allegiance.

_**FLASHBACK – 1 year ago**_

_Harry and Nymphadora flooed from the Tonks' house to Sirius' apartment for the supposed sleep-over. Of course that was the excuse given to the adults who chose to ignore that Harry considered sleepovers as girly and juvenile. In reality it was the mass-planning session for all the pranks the two would pull both in and out of school throughout the year. Something that would make the authority figures cringe given what the two teens were capable of._

_Stumbling out of the floo and cursing the girl who almost crashed into him under his breath, Harry straightened up and walked to the kitchen where they were supposed to meet Sirius. However, the voices coming from the kitchen, more specifically the giggle, made him stop abruptly at the door. A high-pitched feminine giggle. As usual Tonks crashed into him in her usual spectacular form but some quick reflexes from Harry and a distracting feminine laugh from the kitchen ensured that they were not noticed._

_With a hand covering her mouth, Harry silently dragged the protesting girl up the stairs to the spare bedroom which Harry knew Sirius never used. _

"_Owww, why the hell did you drag me away, Harry? I wanna see who is with Sirius."_

_Harry looked at Tonks incredulously before sighing. Sometimes she wasn't as quick witted as he would like. "Sirius is having a date, Nymmy. Why do you think he was distracted the whole day? It must be a big date for him to forget about our little annual meeting."_

"_Oh", the now contrite girl replied meekly, "It would have been rude to barge in on his date like that."_

_Harry let out a frustrated groan, "Nymmy, did Aunt Andy drop you on your head a little too many times when you were a baby?" _

"_HEY!"_

"_Then why the hell do you think I am NOT being rude and barging in, like I want to?"_

"_Oh, I don't know!" Tonks mumbled in an embarrassed tone._

"_We are not going to simply barge in, Nymmy, we are going to crash his big date!"_

"_How?"_

"_You can leave the planning to me. Now I want you to do something"_

"_What?" Tonks enquired a little too eager at the prospect of crashing her cousin's big date._

"_I want to change your hair colour to black and your eyes into grey"_

"_Why?" the girl demanded eagerly._

"_Just do it", snapped Harry._

"_Okay, okay. I was just a little curious about what you were planning. No need to get all snappy."_

_Noticing the angry expression on her younger friends' face, Tonks quickly shut up and did as she was asked._

_Giving her a look-over and nodding in satisfaction, Harry said, "Good. Now, I want you to follow my lead."_

"_Follow your lead?"_

"_Yes, FOLLOW MY DAMN LEAD! Now, move."_

_Bracing himself and taking a deep breath, Harry threw the kitchen door open and sauntered in startling the two inmates._

"_Da-ad, we're ho-ome. What do you think- Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know you had company in here!"_

"_Dad? DAD? You have children, Sirius Orion Black?"_

_Tonks and Harry finally got a good look at the woman. She was probably in her late twenties – early thirties with a pretty face and a head full of blonde hair. Not a stunning beauty but pretty enough for Sirius to panic when Harry appeared. Figuring out what Harry was planning and deciding that it was time to interject into the conversation herself, Tonks answered, "Of course, we are his children. What do I look like? His metamorphmagus cousin pretending to be his daughter?"_

_Harry responded in a mock-sarcastic voice, "Yeah, and I am the older brother of the boy-who-lived", before Sirius could reply to the accusations._

_After a moment of gaping stupidly at the two seemingly innocent teens, Sirius started to sputter denials, "No, Kate, don't believe them. They are NOT my kids. That really is my cousin and my godson. They are trying to prank us. You. Please don't believe them."_

_The woman, Kate, turned around as if she was going to question Tonks but refrained from doing so at the sight of tears in the girl's eyes._

"_Dad? What's going on? Why are saying such things? It's me, Nymmy. Your daughter Nymmy."_

_Kate was about to swirl around to deliver a scathing reprimand to her date but the boy beat her to it. _

"_Dad, How could you? We go over to grandma's house for ONE weekend and you have a woman at OUR house and lie to her. And you pretend as if we ARE NOT YOUR CHILDREN! THAT'S LOW EVEN FOR YOU, DAD!" By the time Harry was finished, he was shouting, anger predominant in his features._

_Sirius looked absolutely gobsmacked at the performance the two teenagers were putting forth. So, it was quite understandable when he was whirled around and slapped. HARD. By the time he regained his senses, the woman had been long gone._

_Sirius turned to look at the teenagers standing in front of him trying desperately not to burst out laughing. Without a word, Sirius drew his wand and turned on them. "You… YOU… I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU MISERABLE BRATS! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD I TRIED TO GET HER TO NOTICE ME! YOU'RE DEAD, I TELL YOU, DEAD!"_

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

Sirius may have eventually forgiven Harry and Tonks for the stunt that resulted in his date ending pre-maturely with a slap as a bonus, but Harry made sure he never forgot it. So, whenever he felt the need, Harry would remind Sirius about the incident and threaten to do it again. Sirius wouldn't have given it much thought if Harry hadn't done exactly as he promised and ruined three more dates in a similar fashion.

Lily and her daughters screamed out their frustration at Sirius for ruining a perfect blackmail material and turned around to find that Harry hadn't let go his baby sister. She was still clinging onto him and in turn Harry was still hugging her to his chest. Harry finally noticed that the girl was attached to him. He stood on his knees lifting her sleeping form in his hands and dropped her on her butt on the bed.

The girl woke up yelping and hissed like a cat dipped in water and bared her teeth at Harry freaking him out. Realisation hit Harry a moment later when he remembered the bites he had endured the previous night. Slowly backing away from the girl, he immediately raised his hands in the same 'I surrender' gesture and spoke loudly, "I know that wasn't a nice thing to do but you can't do anything to me. I'm like a cornered animal. I don't want to hurt you but I can't promise to control my self-protective urges."

Ignoring the excuses made by her big brother, the Cassie Potter pounced on Harry, intent on biting a huge chunk out of his neck.

James Potter was reading the morning newspaper with a cup of tea in front of him, patiently waiting for his wife to serve breakfast. He was startled out of his seat when he heard a scream of pain followed by thundering footsteps. James drew his wand and ran out of the kitchen just in time to see a blur race past him. It took only a moment for James to figure out that the blur was actually Harry and his youngest daughter was hanging off her brother's back by her grip on his hair and actually attempting to bite his shoulders. James sighed. It was wonderful for his two children to bond like this. After all, what could bring two people together than a nice fist-fight. He just hoped Harry wouldn't be too bruised at the end of the day.

A wincing Harry Potter sat at the table in his room with his baby sister on his lap. Not by his choice, of course, but Harry was more than willing to let her do anything as long as she didn't start biting and scratching him again. He had spent most of the day running and hiding from her and it appeared as if she had calmed down. So, he was doing his best not to annoy her and spend the rest of his summer being chased around the house by her.

Harry was writing his transfiguration assignment while the little girl was gazing at the books in front of her wondrously. After a few minutes of silently watching her brother work, the girl was bored.

"Hawwy, what awe you wwiting?"

"My transfiguration assignment."

"What is twans-thingy?"

"It means the science of turning one thing into another."

The girl turned and looked at him with awe, "You can tuwn thwings into somefing else? How'd you do thwat? Can you tweach me, pleeeease? I wanna learn to do magic. Pleeeease, Hawwy, teach me magic, pwease?"

Harry sighed. He just didn't get it. Just why the fuck is reality not even close to how good fantasy is.

The entire Potter family along with Sirius and Remus was sitting in the living room spending precious time together since in a few days not only would Alex be starting at Hogwarts but Lily would also be starting the term at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic as the Ancient Runes Professor.

Over the past few days, Harry had gotten used to the crazy antics of his baby sister and Cassie Potter found her big brother to be hysterically funny that she spent whatever time she could in his room, convincing him to play with her or begging him to teach her magic. The thing that surprised everyone the most, including Harry, was that Harry had grown oddly fond of the girl and spending some time everyday to indulge her.

Harry was sitting in front of the fireplace deeply engrossed in the book in his hand as he absently stroked his baby sister's hair who was lying next to him on the couch.

Lily was happy. For the first time in many years, Harry was showing signs of attachment to someone other than Sirius. Not that she resented Sirius but she sometimes wished that Harry spend more time with family. But he had spent even Christmas holidays at School or his friends' house. Seeing him with little Cassie filled her heart with hope that Harry wouldn't drift away from the family.

Lily was startled out of her musings by the sound of someone gasping. She looked around to find that everyone's attention was riveted on Harry who was reading a letter. Lily was immediately concerned when she saw tears in Harry's eyes. The last time she saw Harry crying was sometime after the death of his grandparents.

"Whoa, Harry. Are you alright, mate? Is that tears in your eyes? You know you are starting to freak out everyone?" Sirius' voice broke the silence.

Harry looked up and Lily could make out the wide smile on his face though there were certainly tears in his eyes. "I… I got… in"

"You got in. Congratulations. Now do you mind cluing in us, mere mortals, where you got in?" Sirius' sarcastic voice replied.

"The Bulgarian sub-league has offered me the position of reserve chaser for the Sofia team!" the whispered Harry as if he didn't believe it himself.

"Oooh, congrats, Harry. Brilliant. But do you care to tell me why you are crying like a little girl?" Sirius spoke breaking the stunned silence.

"The SOFIA TEAM, Padfoot. The best possible team IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE!"

"Why? What's so special about them? Are they the reigning champions? Are they the highest paying team? Is any of your friends already on the team?"

"No, they are ranked twenty-first on the league. I don't know anyone on the team and they definitely aren't the highest paying team!"

"Then why are you so bloody excited?"

Harry looked at Sirius with a smug expression, "Veela Cheerleaders, Padfoot! They are the only team in the league to use Veela Cheerleaders. Do you get it now? I GET VEELA CHEERLEADERS! SO WHY THE BLOODY HELL SHOULDN'T I BE EXCITED?"

A shocked silence ensued after Harry's outburst as they watched Sirius go through so many emotions before he settled on unsuppressed jealousy and vehemently protested, "NO! YOU ARE NOT PLAYING FOR THAT TEAM! I ABSOLUTELY FORBID IT! TRYING TO UPSTAGE ME BY GETTING TO THE VEELA FIRST? IN YOUR DREAMS, POTTER, YOU HEAR ME, IN YOUR DREAMS. YOU ARE GOING NO WHERE NEAR THE VEELA BEFORE I DO."

**August 29, 1991**

Harry was lying on the ground looking up at the rapidly darkening sky. He was at the play-park and it was the last day of his summer holidays as he would be leaving for Durmstrang the next day. Harry looked around and saw that almost all of his friends were around him chatting. He would miss them all dearly even if he would never admit it to their face.

Seeing that it was getting late, Harry stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes. "I guess it's goodbye for now, guys. It's getting late and I have to start early for school tomorrow."

One by one each of his friends stepped up and said their goodbyes with the females usually hugging him. The last person to step up was Cedric, the first of his quidditch friends. Shrugging the offered hand, Cedric pulled him into a one-armed manly hug and clapped him on the back. Stepping back, he grinned and said, "Take care, mate and remember to write to us poor folks every now and then. You know how Alicia gets all teary when she doesn't get a letter from you." earning a _HEY _and a smack to the back of the head from the aforementioned girl.

Harry knew he had one last thing to do before he left for the evening. Addressing the whole crowd, he said, "Guys, I need a favour from you."

"What is it, Harry?"

"Well, as you all know, my brother Alex starts Hogwarts tomorrow." The news of the boy-who-lived starting at Hogwarts was big.

"Don't worry, Harry. We'll take care of him."

Harry sighed. This was going to be the hard part. "That's it, Guys. I DON'T want you to do it."

His friends did a double-take when they heard it. That was the last thing they wanted to hear from him. Cedric probed gently, "Harry, you know we didn't promise to take care of him because he is the boy-who-lived. We did it because he is your brother. That makes him one of us."

Harry groaned audibly. "That's NOT what I meant you dolt and you know it. What I meant to say is, I don't want him to automatically become a part of this group just because he is my brother. I want him to earn it."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, you all know me and somehow expect Alex to be just like me. That's not the case. None of my siblings are anything like me. We are like the polar opposites. Alex hasn't stepped outside the house other than the annual shopping trip to the muggle world. He hasn't interacted with anyone other than family. The only other friend he has apart from family is this kid, Longbottom who visits like once a year."

"So?"

"So, I want him to make his own friends. He is very shy and doesn't have any experience with strangers. I want him to try and open up to his peers. If you guys take him in as one of your own, he will be comfortable and will never open up to his classmates. Do you understand me?"

Cedric looked up and down as if trying to evaluate the guy in front of him. "Who are you and what have you done with our Harry?"

Ignoring the roll of eyes from Harry, Cedric continued, "You do make sense. It's very important to be on very good terms with your classmates especially your dorm-mates. We will give him the space he needs. Alright?"

Harry sighed in relief. He had expected more protest from his friends but by consenting first Cedric had practically ensured that everyone agreed. He pulled Cedric apart from the group.

"Just one more thing."

"What?"

"Keep an eye on him and let me know if anything interesting happens around him. Just make sure no one, including Alex, knows you are watching him for me."

"Even these?" Cedric gestured at the other kids standing around.

"Yes?"

"Why Harry?"

"Just do it, Cedric"

**July 1992**

**No. 12 Grimmauld Place**

Harry and Sirius were sitting in one of the unused rooms of the house drinking a cup of tea and discussing the adventures of the boy-who-lived Alexander Potter in his first year at Hogwarts.

"…and Dumbledore finally arrived to watch Voldemort's spirit flee."

Harry looked at Sirius and asked, "And just what do you think of the whole thing?"

Sirius fumed, "I don't know what the old bastard was thinking leaving Flamel's Sorceror's stone at Hogwarts. And all those hurdles? If three firsties could get past them without much trouble, then I smell something wrong with the whole thing. How could have Dumbledore not known that Quirrell had Voldemort in his turban? I am not satisfied with Dumbledore letting Snivellous snoop around. Or entrust Hagrid with a secret. If you ask me, I think this entire thing was to test Alex."

"Test what?", Harry asked with a frown.

"Well, you know the prophecy. Maybe, Dumbledore knew that Voldemort was after the stone and had set-up the whole thing as some sort of test for Alex. See how his chosen is facing Voldemort, maybe? If the hurdles were too complex then Alex wouldn't have been able to confront Voldemort. This must all be that old bastard's sick plan to force a confrontation between Alex and Voldemort"

Harry closed his eyes and sighed, while pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stop the frustration building up inside him. "Now, I know why they say wizards don't have an ounce of logic"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Why would Dumbledore need to test Alex, you mangy mutt! He knows Alex is only twelve and cannot handle himself against Voldemort even if he has no corporeal form now. It's a fact. Everyone knows it. Especially someone who has access to his embarrassingly average marks in the final examinations."

"Then why?"

"Let's try and solve this logically, shall we? Fact one – the boy-who-lived is attending Hogwarts after having never been exposed to public for ten years. This attracts the attention of everyone including the dark lord whose weakened condition Alex is responsible for."

"So?"

"Fact two - The philosopher's stone is being moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts. The stone which has supernatural powers to ensure longevity and give you a nearly unlimited supply of gold. It is a target worth the attention of a dark lord like Voldemort."

"Okay. Where are you going with this?"

"Fact three - Dumbledore's trap using the Mirror of Erised. According to your descriptions, even if someone managed to get to the mirror, they would not have been able to get the stone if they wanted to use the stone for themselves. It's a brilliant piece of logic – something not common for wizardfolk."

"Fact four – Snape's use of potions to get past the enchanted fire was not easy but it was also not so difficult. BUT, the one thing you failed to notice was that there was only enough potion for someone to enter the final chamber not enough to leave the room through the fire. So, it is essentially a trap where someone could get trapped inside the final chamber and even if they somehow get the stone out of the mirror, they wouldn't be able to get out of the chamber unless someone broke them out."

"Hey, what if Voldemort carried the bottle of potion inside and then drink it once more when he needed to leave?"

Harry smiled smugly, "I may not a fully qualified wizard yet but even I know that potions may make you invulnerable to enchanted fire like that but the potion itself wouldn't have been invulnerable. The flask of potion wouldn't have survived the fire."

"Ooook"

"Fact five – Both of us know that Dumbledore has been searching for Voldemort's spirit and a way to get rid of it for the past ten years. Now, what does the whole thing say to you?"

Seeing Sirius' blank stare, Harry continued, "Dumbledore laid a trap for Voldemort. He knew Voldemort would be interested in coming after Alex. But to make sure Voldemort took the bait, Dumbledore sweetened the deal by adding the philosopher's stone to the equation. A chance to steal a stone that ensures longevity and unlimited wealth and the chance to get revenge on the boy responsible for his condition probably made Voldemort crawl out of whatever hole he was hiding and come to Dumbledore's fort – Hogwarts"

"Go on, you are starting to make sense but I still say my story is a lot more interesting."

"Dumbledore lays a trap with easy hurdles – a Cerberus, Devil's snare, enchanted keys, a troll and an enchanted chess set. It may sound daunting but easy enough for Voldemort to go for the bait and let his guard down. Dumbledore chose his spot well, too. An underground chamber with only one exit which was smothered with cursed fire. It wouldn't have been a big hurdle for Voldemort at his best but certainly tough for his spirit form. Dumbledore knew the cursed fire and the mirror would keep Voldemort occupied long enough for him to figure out a way to trap the spirit. Or maybe even destroy the whole chamber in an effort to destroy his spirit."

Sirius looked at Harry incredulously. "You seriously mean that?"

"Yes, by trying to play hero, Alex and his band of friends spoiled the trap intended to capture Voldemort's spirit. When he found out that Alex was inside, Dumbledore probably unsealed the chamber as quickly as possible to make sure Voldemort didn't harm the silly boy and Voldemort probably used the opportunity to flee. Dumbledore would have looked proud at Alex at the infirmary but I bet he was seething inside that his best thought plans were disrupted by a bunch of firsties."

"Wh.. Bu.. Then why didn't Dumbledore ever tell the truth, at least after Voldemort got away?"

"Well, three eleven year olds had risked their lives and had been injured in what they thought was a successful attempt at thwarting Voldemort's plans. How do you think they would have felt if Dumbledore had told them they had spoiled his best laid plans and allowed Voldemort to escape?"

**AUGUST 1992**

**Potter Manor**

Alex and the twins were looking at their new books when a laughing Harry and a pissed off Sirius came stumbling out of the floo.

Upon landing in the hall, Harry pounced behind the couch while a red-faced Sirius threw curse after curse at the nearly-sixteen year old rolling on the floor laughing hysterically at the same time trying to dodge the curses sent in his direction.

Hearing the noise from the living room, James, Lily and Remus ran from the kitchen expecting the trouble, instead finding three very amused teens watching the scene themselves.

Seeing his wife's temper rise at the ruckus caused by his best friend and eldest son, James intervened before Lily, "Alright Sirius, stop. No need to act like a spoilt five year old. OUCH, hey what was that for? Watch it Padfoot. Damn, no NOT the nipple twister, Siri- Lily HELP"

"STOP IT BLACK. Now what is wrong?"

"What is wrong? What is WRONG? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IS WRONG! THIS DEMON-SPAWN OF YOURS IS WHAT IS WRONG!"

Remus intervened, "Calm down, Padfoot and tell us what happened. And Harry, stop laughing. It's not funny"

"Oh, but it was Moony. You should have been there. Oh my God.", before Harry collapsed in laughter once more.

Lily glared at Sirius who was letting loose some vile expletives and growled, "Talk Black, what happened?"

"Well, I was having a quiet candle-lit dinner with that hot-blond from the robes-shop in Hogsmeade. She was young for me, maybe a bit too young, around twenty two but had the most beautiful face and a damn hot-"

"Get on with it, Sirius", snapped Lily Potter.

"Alright, alright. Jeez, I thought you people would appreciate me landing a hot girl like her. Anyways, I was planning on eh-_expanding my relationship_ with her after dinner when your devil-spawn came stumbling out of the floo. He saw me with the girl and for a moment I thought he would leave without butting in, maybe have the decency of letting his handsome godfather get some action he so deserved. But noooooo, he just had to."

"What did he do, Sirius", asked Lily more out of exasperation than curiosity not liking the way things were spinning out.

"He just came over to our table with the most innocent expression on his face and said, '_Is this a new friend of yours, Uncle Sirius. Does your wife know you invite your lady friends for dinner?_' For the next half an hour I had to dodge some painful curses from her while that git was laughing at my expense. Even after thirty minutes of me begging, she still wouldn't believe me and she left."

By the time Sirius was finished, all the members of the house had joined Harry in laughing at the sole Black in the house.

"That is not what he is mad about. Ask him what happened before she left", choked out the still laughing Harry.

"WELL SHE BLOODY WELL KISSED THAT BLOODY HELL-SPAWN OF YOURS ON HIS BLOODY LIPS TO MAKE ME BLOODY JEALOUS! SHE BLOODY WELL SNOGGED HIM AND THAT GIT SNOGGED HER BACK AND AFTER SHE LEFT THAT BLOODY DEMON-SPAWN HAD THE CHEEK TO TAUNT ME WITH IT! LISTEN TO ME YOU, WHIPPERSNAPPER, I AM NOT AN OLD-TIMER. I CAN HOLD ON TO MY BLOODY DATES VERY WELL."

"Sure like you just did. The old timer is just mad I stole his date. Well, if you want Sirius, she gave me her floo address. Maybe, you can convince her to go with me to a movie or out for dinner."

Sirius was giving Harry a super-glare which promised pain. James however was rejoicing at his son getting the better of the self-proclaimed ladies-man Sirius Black. "Alright, congratulation son. You got yourself an older women not to mention stole...That is great- ah, well uh, I mean", he faltered after one look at his wife's face.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHAT DID-"

"There we go again" mumbled Alex as he started un-packing his school supplies.

After fifteen minutes of Lily shouting and Harry ignoring her, he came over to Alex and the twins who were sorting out their books. After getting a good look at the Lockhart books at the top, he wondered out loud.

"This is nice. I didn't know Hogwarts had recreational reading as a mandatory exercise. It must be nice encouraging young children to read and creating an interest in fiction. But everyone buying so many novels is just absurd. You could share you know."

"Those are not novels you moron. They are our DADA books."

Harry gave his twin sisters an incredulous stare muttering, "No way. It must be a joke. Maybe, old man Dumbledore is pulling a brilliant prank on you guys. I mean, did you just read through the contents, it talks about what colour underwear the ponce on the cover likes. How is that going to help you? Kill your dark creatures by flashing your neon pink undies?"

Alex moaned, "Not only that, but we also have that git as our DADA professor. It is going to be an awful year."

"Don't worry Alex", Harry said patting on his head sympathetically, "At least you will be entertained. Besides, you can write to me about it if it gets tough for you."

Alex perked up at it, "You mean you will teach me DADA?"

"Ahhhh, I think you misunderstood me, Alex. I wasn't talking about teaching you DADA. I was asking you to write to me about your year if it gets even more awful so that at least I can get a good laugh out of it."

"Sod off, you git. Why do you have to be so annoying?"

"I live to serve, little brother."

**Christmas holidays, 1992**

**Beauxbatons**

Alex Potter was spending Christmas holidays with his entire family bar his eldest brother, who as usual was spending the holiday in some friend's house, in Beauxbatons where his mother worked as the Ancient Runes professor. It had been an effort by the Potter parents to take his mind off the horrible happenings in the school, especially after the attacks on the muggleborn by the Slytherin's heir, and also to spend the holiday somewhere warmer.

The holiday had been a massive success. The entire Beauxbatons academy was empty save a couple of students and the teachers, of course. The Potter family had a very warm welcome from the entire faculty especially by the Delacour family.

Apolline Delacour was a half veela and the charms professor of the school. Her eldest daughter Fleur was a fifth year student and younger daughter Gabrielle was only six years old. Her husband, Jean-Paul was a businessman and was away, leaving the family to spend the Christmas holidays in school.

Lily Potter was the only true friend that Apolline Delacour had, having had to deal with the jealousy of other females or drooling of the males or in some cases, remarks about being a half-breed. Lily hadn't allowed any of them come in between them after dealing with remarks about 'the English witch' by her fellow peers for a long time before she was accepted. Apolline had been the one who had shown her friendship in the first place.

Gabrielle Delacour had a lonely life for a couple of years before Cassie Potter came into her life. Little Gabrielle had been forced to live with her mother in the Beauxbatons castle for as long as she could remember. She never had a friend her age and the youngest friend she had was a first year who was nearly eight years her senior that time. It was then Professor Potter had moved in with her little daughter and the two had hit it off from the start spectacularly. They had been best friends since day one.

Fifteen year old Fleur Delacour was having the time of her life. Even at a young age, Fleur had developed a haughty persona to keep people from getting too close to her. The girl knew she was beautiful as her Veela ancestry promised and was proud of it. She chose to spend all her leisure time in the staff quarters with her mother and Aunt Lily as she was asked to call in private, feeling that her peers were too immature for her. It was a much better way to spend all the free time than spending time in the common rooms where boys were staring at her or asking her out or simply drooling over her.

She had been excited when she heard that her favourite Professor's family was spending the Christmas holidays in her school. Mr. Potter had been very nice and jovial – it was like talking to a teenager than a grown adult let alone an auror.

The rest of the family had been very nice too. The twins Rose and Evie had been too young to come into jealous streaks that often accompanied befriending veela. And Alex and Andrew. They were like little brothers to her and fun to tease. Fun and too easy to do so. Especially Alex, since Andrew was a little too young. It was refreshing to see him blush beet red whenever she paid an innocent-yet-not-so-innocent compliment to him or hit him mildly with her veela charm.

Lily was watching the Delacour children playing exploding snap with her own children in the living room of her quarters with a small smile on her face. James seeing the not-so-innocent smile on her face approached her and softly asked, "Lily, honey, what is the matter? You are staring into space for a long time and you have a smile on your face that usually means I'm in trouble. Please tell me what's in your mind."

Facing her husband, she motioned him to follow her into her room and put a silencing charm in the room and turned to face her husband with a devious smirk on her face.

"Tell me, James, what do you think of Fleur?"

"Uh, Lily, I wasn't doing anything with her. I swear. I mean, she is young enough to be my daughter and I have a son who is older than her. So, I..."

His response was cut off as Lily broke out laughing. After a few seconds, she calmed down and composed herself before facing her husband once again, "Oh, that's not what I meant James. I know you'd never do that. I meant what you think of her as a person. You have been around her for a couple of days, so tell me, what impression has she left on you?"

"I have been around her only for a couple of hours Lily and all I can say is, she is very nice, not-so-modest for a part-veela but friendly enough. Not to mention she is very beautiful. That and she loves her sister. Nothing much."

"Correct, James. Yes, she is very beautiful even comparable to a full-blooded veela. She is also the best student in her year and very smart. Studious and generally doesn't take part in much other than academics. She has very few friends – curse of being a part-veela and I am one of them. She is much more mature than any other fifteen year old I have seen. Alex is the first male closer to her age that she has really opened up to. Now what do you think I am implying."

"Uh... um I see... but... huh..."

"I see you don't get it James." Lily replied impatiently, "I am saying that she is a very, very nice girl and she gets along with the family and is someone I approve of. So, basically I am saying that she is the sort of girl I want to see as my son's girlfriend or more so in future, if you catch my meaning."

"Wait, Lily, I think you are getting too far ahead. I mean, isn't three years a bit too much of a gap for them to be dating. Also, I don't think Alex should start that at eleven. I mean, I got my first date when I was fourteen. Maybe, you should wait for a couple of years before you try something like this again."

Confusion clouded her face as she processed what her husband was talking about before she smacked her husband on the back of his head. "I wasn't talking about Alex, you dolt. I was talking about Harry, your eldest, the one who hangs around your self-proclaimed Casanova of a best friend too much for my liking."

"Hey, wait. I don't think Harry will have problems landing himself a girl. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually had a girlfriend already. Besides they haven't even met, so how do you think this will work?"

"I don't know James but I am worried. He is turning out more and more like Sirius every day. And I don't want him to end up a bachelor at forty. Especially a womanising bachelor. He is sixteen and hasn't had a single steady girlfriend yet. I can understand, being nearly year around in a boys school, can make it difficult for him to get himself a decent and steady girl. Besides, for all the stuff that he pulls, don't you think he will need a girlfriend to keep him in check? If he finds himself a girlfriend, it is more than likely that she will be just like him."

"You are right as well, Lils. One Harry is hard enough to handle. We don't need a female version of him too. But, what about Fleur? I mean what if she doesn't like him?"

Lily scoffed at James and replied, "Oh please, my son is very handsome, not to mention he is very intelligent if reports from school are an indication. He plays quidditch professionally. He may not have told us about his contracts but I am pretty sure he makes good money and he is more than likely to get himself a nice job. Plus, he is confident, charming and fun to be with, even if it is a bit too much for my taste. What kind of girl do you think will turn him down?"

"Alright, alright, I am not saying I don't like it but I am saying it will be very difficult. Chances of them meeting are slim and chances of our son going for any longer without a steady girlfriend is very rare especially when he is running around stealing Sirius' dates – he has done that thrice this summer alone. And he is smart enough to see through any attempts by us"

"So what? I am not going to go to my son and ask him to consider asking one of my student's for a date. But, I know Fleur. That girl is inquisitive, if anything. A few hints about him here and there and she will start asking about him and after that it's up to them. What do you say?"

James whistled at his wife, "Can't say I complain after I hear that, Lils."

**June 1993**

**Potter Manor**

The entire Potter family, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were sitting in the dining room of the manor listening to Alex recollect everything that had happened in the past year at Hogwarts and his fight with the basilisk in the chamber of secrets.

Lily, James and Remus sat pale-faced as they listened to Alex talk about the massive snake. The rest of the Potter children weren't far behind as they heard about the legendary snake. Even the usually boisterous ones like Sirius and Harry were silent. Little Cassie didn't understand what was going on and what everyone was talking about. But she understood that they were talking about something awful since they were all silent, even her favourite brother Harry. So she sat silently in Harry's lap playing with the doll in her hand, the one Harry had bought for her previous birthday.

Sensing the still atmosphere in the room, Harry and Sirius looked at each other and nodded. All of a sudden, Sirius spoke in a loud yet very serious voice which wasn't what he usually used.

"You know Alex, you were lucky in there. You realise that don't you?"

"Yes, Sirius, I know. I mean if it wasn't for Fawkes I wouldn't have made it out alive let alone save Ginny."

"That is not what I meant my boy. What if it _wasn't_ a basilisk in the chamber? You do realise that if the chamber wasn't Slytherin's you would've been in even more trouble."

Confusion adorned the faces of everyone in the room as they thought about what insanity Sirius was spouting.

Harry intervened, "What our mentally-disadvantaged godfather implying is that what if the chamber of secrets belonged to some other founder. Would you have been able to fight the monster inside their chamber?"

Sirius piped up, "Yeah, what if the chamber of secrets actually belonged to Gryffindor. What would you have done against a 40-foot long lion?"

Exasperation broke out on everyone's face but Harry continued, "That wouldn't have been a problem Sirius. You can easily understand that. A 40-foot long lion that hadn't been disturbed for fifty years would be immensely hungry and eat Alex at the first opportunity. What I am asking is that what would have Alex done if the chamber of secrets had actually belonged to the Hufflepuff house. I mean you can understand a 40-foot snake or a 40-foot lion. Obviously, it would want to eat you. But what do you think a 40-foot badger would do? I, personally, would have been confused beyond imagination. So he is immensely lucky to face the basilisk"

People around the table groaned and palmed their face as they tried to understand the twisted logic of Sirius Black and Harry Potter.

Harry huffed up in mock frustration and said, "Alright, jeez, try to think of something positive from the situation and people are immediately unappreciative. Anyways, I wanted to ask Alex something"

"About what?" dreading the question.

"About the singing howler you received on Valentine's day."

Alex groaned for a minute as the marauders in the table perked up. Looking up at the expectant faces in the table, he suddenly asked.

"Which one are you talking about?"

Harry immediately picked up on that. "There was more than one?" he demanded.

Cursing his stupidity, he turned to look at his twin sisters and demanded, "You were the ones who told him, weren't you?"

"WHAT? No, we didn't"

Meanwhile, the marauders rounded on Harry, "What valentine are you talking about? Alex received a singing valentine?", Sirius asked grinning evilly at Alex making him go red in embarrassment.

"Well, word is that, our boy Alex came down to breakfast on 's day all dressed up and midway through breakfast, an owl landed with a howler in its beak in front of him. Seems Alex tried to make a run for it but halfway through the hall, the howler burst and someone serenaded him very loudly and romantically... in a gruff male voice"

The table erupted in laughter at the red faced, mortified Alex Potter who rounded on his twin sisters to berate them for ratting him out to their family. But Harry, standing up to leave the room, said in a casual voice while walking towards the door, "They didn't tell me, Alex"

Scowling at his elder brother, Alex asked, "Who told you then?"

Pausing at the door, Harry turned and looked at his younger brother with a lopsided grin and asked, "Who do you think sent you that howler? My dorm-mate, of course" With that he left the room, leaving behind a gaping brother and an amused family.

**Hogsmeade**

**August 1993**

Harry and Cedric were walking around Hogsmeade spending another pleasant day of the holidays. Both of them stood on the edge of the village looking at the Hogwarts castle standing at the distance.

"So, what have you got for me, Cedric?"

Cedric Diggory turned to look at his friend once again. This was a side to Harry that he saw rarely. The usual fun and humor was missing. There was a serious glint in his eyes that meant something more mature.

"I don't know what to think of your brother, Harry"

Harry turned to face Cedric with an unreadable expression, "Why?"

"I mean, when you overlook the whole boy-who-lived and survived-the-killing-curse thing, your brother behaves like any other boy in the castle, though he is very shy. He is only friends with a muggleborn girl and a Weasley boy. The others think that he is keeping everyone away to keep this air of mystery around him. His actions don't help either. He rarely interacts with anyone even his classmates from other houses. They just think of him as a glorified attention seeker or the second coming of Merlin depending on their mood."

"What do you think?"

"I think the others are over-analysing everything. I think Alex is very shy. He is not a stand-out student or anything and usually tries to keep his head down. And suddenly, something unexpected happens and everyone's attention is one him."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. There was the whole Chamber of Secrets mystery and everyone saying Alex is the heir of Slytherin. Did you know Alex was a parselmouth before this?"

"Yeah. I found out a couple of years ago but kept it to myself. By the way, didn't you tell anyone that he couldn't have been the heir of Slytherin? As the eldest child, the heirdom should have passed on to me from one of my parents."

Cedric chuckled. "You would've loved that, wouldn't you? People often don't think straight when they encounter something they are not used to. Besides, I don't think many people know that you exist. They just imagine Alex is the eldest."

Harry and Cedric shared an uncomfortable silence gazing at the majestic castle standing at the edge of the forest.

"Why does so many things happen around Alex, Harry? Last year with the whole mess in the forbidden corridor in the third floor and Professor Quirrell and this year with the whole Heir of Slytherin and Chamber of secrets thing. Whenever something happens in school, your brother seems to be right in the middle of it."

"One day, Cedric", Harry answered, his gaze still not leaving the Hogwarts castle, "One day, you may find out."


	10. My Harem

**THE KING**

**By**

**Seraph Orion Black**

**Author Notes:**

I am really making an effort to post new chapters as soon as possible.

But, I recently moved to UK and enroled into Uni. I am still in the process of adapting to the conditions that I've forgotten about updating.

Possibly, I may update another chapter by this weekend, just to make up for the long wait.

I do have a small doubt. I am not really sure how long a chapter should be. I mean, should I be doing at 4k a chapter at a chapter a week or 10+k per chapter every month?

**Chapter 9**

**My Harem**

**July 1993**

**Potter Manor**

Lily was sitting in the living room of her house enjoying some quality time with her entire family. James, Alexander and Andrew were sitting on the couch and discussing that year's quidditch matches of Gryffindor. James was no doubt regaling them with absurd tales from his own days in the team. Lily hated when he did that. It reminded her of the arrogant bullying toe-rag that she once knew. Before he became her husband.

Evelyn and Rosalyn were sitting on the floor trying to complete their Potions assignment while Lily was trying to help them as much as she could. Cassie was sitting next to her playing with her dolls.

Well, almost the entire family.

Harry was out with Sirius. Again.

Lily didn't understand why she ever let Harry spend all the time with that godfather of his. Harry never came home for Christmas OR Easter holidays. He had been away at school for almost an entire year. Yet, the moment he comes back home from Durmstrang, Sirius is there to pick him up and they are off doing god knows what!

The flames in the fireplace turned green and Harry stepped out of the floo smooth as ever. Lily envied Harry's ability to take up on all forms of magical transportation without much difficulty. He could floo smoothly and he could keep his balance during a portkey landing which was more than she could say for herself.

Lily hated all forms of magical transportation. She always felt like losing her last meal after an apparition, she could never keep her balance while using a portkey and she would always shoot out of the fireplace while exiting the floo. Sadly, all her children except Harry had inherited these oddities.

And brooms – Lily could never understand why brooms couldn't be used for just what they were invented for – sweeping the floor. Brooms were pretty much the only thing she had hated for a longer time than James. However, unlike James, brooms never saw the errors of their ways and stop trying to throw her off every time she hopped on one.

Lily's eyes finally settled on Harry as he walked into the sitting room. He was handsome – very handsome. His tall and strong body was perfectly complemented by a charming face, a smart and witty personality and a confident approach that generally appealed to women.

His eyes, however, were a different story. Lily had no doubts that his physique and reputation as a pro-quidditch player could get him all the girls he wanted. Yet Lily couldn't find any fault with the girls who fell under his charm. His hypnotic eyes, so similar to hers, alone would make any girl melt into a puddle of goo.

Lily was proud of the fact that all her children had inherited her eyes. Her unusual green eyes were something she was really proud of. However, the same eyes that looked cute on the other kids' face had a more profound effect in Harry. It made him irresistibly handsome.

Said eyes however were scrunched up in annoyance as he was scowling at the fireplace. The reason became apparent when Sirius stepped out of the floo clumsily. The difference between Harry and Sirius was obvious in the very gesture. Before Harry, Sirius had been the most charming and smooth male she had ever known. Back in Hogwarts, many girls have fallen for the careless elegance and ruggedly handsome looks of one Sirius Orion Black.

Sirius, who always looked so smooth and controlled, looked clumsy next to Harry, Lily noted with a tinge of pride. Her baby boy was going to beat Black in something he always had gloated about.

Sirius looked anxiously at Harry who was still scowling.

"Harry, I-"

"Don't talk to me, you-you blood purist!"

Lily was alarmed. That was not a regular insult that Harry and Sirius traded. Use of vulgar language was common between the two but an outright accusation like that was not made even at suspected death-eaters.

"WHAT? I'M NOT A BLO-"

"STOP! Stop it both of you!"

Lily's voice cut through their heated argument which had obviously been going on for some time prior to Harry flooing over. Sirius tried to say something but shut up immediately at Lily's scathing glare.

Nodding at the silent miscreants, Lily turned to her other children who were watching the scene with varying degrees of amusement.

"Alright! Off to bed, you lot!"

"WHAT? But-"

"I wanna see how this ends-"

"NOW", Lily replied in her _'no nonsense! I brought you into this world! I know what's best!'_ voice. Alex, Andrew, Evelyn, Rosalyn and Cassie gathered their things and trudged to their rooms muttering and grumbling.

Lily nodded her head at the kids' back and sighed. She turned to see that Harry and Sirius were still silent but glaring at each other.

She took a deep breath fully knowing that whatever reason the two were fighting for was most probably immature and childish not to mention irritating.

"Sirius", Lily asked in a forced calm tone, "what happened?"

"Why are you asking me? Ask him!" Sirius shot back trying to glare at Harry but faltering at the sight of Lily fingering her wand.

Lily calmed her frayed nerves and turned to ask Harry but she was interrupted by the sound of the floo activating again and Remus Lupin stepping into the room.

Remus took one good look at the room. Harry and Sirius were standing facing each other looking as if they were going to hex each other's face off and Lily standing between them forcing herself not to hex BOTH their faces off. He dropped silently into the seat next to James in the couch and got ready to be amused.

Lily saw Remus settle down to watch without a word and saw her husband pass him a tub of popcorn and a soda. Lily resolved to punish her husband later.

"Harry?" she prompted.

"It's not MY fault he is a blo-"

"WILL YOU GET TO THE POINT?" Lily snapped.

Sirius nodded meekly and answered her.

"Well, Harry and I were playing truth or dare in my home and it was my turn to dare-"

"Wait, wait" James interrupted with a silly grin on his face, "truth or dare?"

"What? It's a manly game. Only manly men would play that game which needs daring guts to spill your darkest secrets or do what you have been dared to do!" Sirius defended vehemently, indignant that James was grinning at him.

"Don't bother yourself with Prongs, Padfoot, he doesn't truly understand the macho and the utterly manly game of truth or dare like you. Continue", Remus encouraged while grinning stupidly.

"Thank you, Moony. As I was saying, Harry and I were playing truth or dare and it was my turn to dare Harry. I didn't want to go for something fancy since he is still technically a minor, so I dared him to snog the first woman he saw."

Lily's eyes narrowed with every word that came out of Sirius' mouth. '_How dare he'_ Lily thought '_He is the reason my baby is growing so corrupt.'_

"And all of a sudden", Sirius continued, "the Tonks' floo'ed in."

_Uh oh _James and Remus thought in unison. Both of them knew how protective Sirius was about Andromeda's family.

"And then, Harry, he-he…"

"Go one tell her, you closet blood purist!"

This sparked something in Sirius as he exploded, "SHE IS MY COUSIN, POTTER! THAT MEANS SHE IS LIKE A COUSIN TO YOU TOO! OFF-LIMITS! YOU DON'T GO AROUND TRYING TO SNOG YOUR COUSINS, YOU LITTLE SHITE!"

Sirius was breathing hard as he glared hard at Harry.

Harry however retaliated, "YOU INBRED BLOOD PURIST HYPOCRITE! SHE IS NOT EVEN _**MY**_ COUSIN! WE ARE NOT EVEN DIRECTLY RELATED! **YOUR** PARENTS ARE FIRST COUSINS! You are an inbred moron and you are lecturing me about kissing cousins! That's a fucking load of hypocrisy if I know Black!"

"IT WASN'T THEIR CHOICE, POTTER. MY PARENTS GOT MARRIED BECAUSE THEY ARE PUREBLOOD AND THEY OBEYED THEIR PARENTS' WORD!"

"THAT'S IT. I KNOW IT. IT'S BECAUSE I AM A HALF-BLOOD, RIGHT? SEE! I WAS RIGHT! YOU ARE REALLY A BLOOD PURIST! Half bloods like us don't even get to kiss our pseudo-cousins while you inbred pureblood gits get to marry your first cousins and pump out inbred half-wits like you! Damn you pure-bloody bloody purists! You take everything for yourselves! You keep all the good things from half-bloods and muggleborn and enjoy it for yourselves! And then you rub it in our faces! You can commit incest but you are livid when we try to get hot and sweaty with our cousins! That's fucking hypocrisy, Black!"

"YOU DID IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER HUSBAND, YOU MORON!"

_**SILENCE**_

James and Remus were frozen in shock with popcorn dropping out of their half-open mouths. Lily, however, was confused.

"Wait! I thought he kissed Nymphadora?"

"Bleh, who would want to snog Nymmy? That's gross! That's like kissing a guy! I snogged Andy", Harry proudly replied to his mother.

Sirius, however, was not letting Lily interrupt their argument. "She is married AND has a kid two years older than you, you dumb-ass!"

"Well… Uncle Ted has had over twenty years with her! I think it's time he let someone else have the chance to be with someone as wonderful as her!"

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Lily's magnified voice managed to get both Sirius' and Harry's attention.

"Black. Detention" Lily said in her best professor voice unknowingly doing a perfect imitation of one Minerva McGonagall.

"WHAT? But I'm not eve-"

"I said detention. Go and wait in the kitchen. NOW."

Sirius hurried out of the room when he saw Lily pull out her wand.

She didn't say a word at Harry but pointed her wand in the direction of the corner. Harry huffed but seated himself in a chair in the corner of the room with his arms folded in front of him in a show of childish immaturity.

"James, Remus, since you two were obviously enjoying the show so much", both of them shuddered at the mock-sweetness in Lily's voice and dreaded their fate, "both of you will sit Harry down and give him the talk"

James gulped but asked, "The talk, honey?"

"Yes, James, the talk. You know the birds and bees stuff?"

"But why? I mean Sirius already gave it to him when… Harry… was… thirteen… Lily, please don't glare at me like that!"

"YOU were supposed to do that, James" Lily huffed in anger, "No wonder our son acts like a carbon copy of that pervert Black. He has filled my Harry's head with god-knows-what perverted ideas that came into his perverted mind. If you had done your job like you were supposed to do, then my son would have been a little angel. Honestly, kissing a married woman? That too, right in front of her husband? Andy is at least seven years older than ME!"

"Just for the record", Harry piped up from the corner, "She is still a very hot chick. I mean I don't know about the entire age difference thing but she is one hundred percent pure fox."

"YOU! ZIP IT! NO MORE!"

James looked like he was about to agree with his son but wisely held his tongue.

Harry went back to sulking and pouting in the corner.

Lily turned back to glare her husband who was trembling in the couch.

"James Tiberius Potter, I don't what you will do. I don't care what you tell him. But you have two hours to take this" Lily pointed a sulking Harry to James, "and make him into an acceptable if not respectable wizard. AND I want you to give him a complete unabridged version of the talk to make sure you undo all the damage that perverted deviant has inflicted on my boy"

Remus' snickers directed at the cowering James Potter abruptly turned into coughs as Lily rounded on him. "And YOU, Remus John Lupin, make sure that my husband doesn't make any mistake."

"Yes ma'am", they chorused in unison.

**Two hours later**

Sirius Black grumbled as he massaged his aching wrists while glaring at the smug woman in front of him. He had spent a hard two hours trying to clean the kitchen with a toothbrush. Not only had that been humiliating but also back-breaking.

"I hope you are happy now, woman. I ache in places I didn't know existed. Are you sure Minerva McGonagall didn't suddenly up and die and possess you? Because this is exactly the sort of thing she would come up with."

"It's all for your own good, Black" Lily smiled happily, "You are slowly learning what it's like to be a responsible adult."

"At least tell me that you punished that no-good son of yours in the same way."

Lily frowned at Sirius but answered with a small smile on her face, "James and Remus are handling him right now, Black"

Sirius' eyes bugged out and he blinked at Lily as if she was mad.

"You do realise that Prongs would only appreciate and encourage Harry for what he just did?"

Lily's smile faltered at that thought. It wasn't necessarily false. A younger James Potter would have found the situation to be very amusing.

"Remus is with him", Lily replied in an entirely non-convincing fashion.

"Moony is scared of Harry, Lily. You should know that by now."

_Damn _Lily thought _He is not wrong. Remus is scared of Harry and his antics. _Harry did have the most fun mocking Remus about his love-life or actually lack-of. Now, she had given Harry exactly what he needed.

Abandoning all thought, Lily rushed out of the kitchen and into the living room to find Harry lounging comfortably in the couch whistling to himself.

James and Remus were sitting in the loveseat in front of him hugging each other and whimpering.

Lily stood still for a moment not understanding what was happening in front of her eyes.

A moment later, Sirius came out of the kitchen and joined her.

"What did you do, Evans? What did you ask them to do?"

"I.. I…"

"Out with it, woman!"

"I.. I asked them to give him the.. you know… talk"

"WHAT? EVANS! ARE YOU CRAZY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? HURRY UP CALL ST. MUNGO'S OR SOMETHING?"

"Bu.. But I wanted to undo all the damage you did to his mind.. perverting it all with your… proclivities"

"BLOODY HELL, EVANS! Why would you do that? They were completely unprepared for something like a sex-talk with Harry! What were you thinking?"

"What do you mean?", Lily snapped back clearly not understanding what was happening.

"Harry isn't some nerdy teenager who would stutter and blush when you talk to him about sex. Bloody Hell! He is a scholar, a genius in the field. I don't think anyone has ever done so much study on this subject at his age. He could lecture a hall full of adults about all they need and sometimes even more about sex. With no shame too. I mean _**I**_ picked up a few things from him when I was giving him the talk and he was only _thirteen_ at that time! Do you know he can say all the forty one erogenous points in a woman's body in alphabetical order?"

James couldn't help but blurt out, "There are forty one?"

Sirius stared at his friend hard for a long moment shaking his head slowly, "I could understand Moony asking a question like this, being the virgin he is" Sirius continued ignoring the _HEY _from Remus and the snicker from Harry, "But seventeen years of marriage and six kids later, YOU ask a question like this?"

Sirius turned to look at a horrified, mortified Lily and said, "I feel sorry for you, Evans. I really do"

**Two days later**

**Potter Manor**

Ever since the embarrassing evening two days ago, Lily hadn't been able to look Harry in the eye. In hindsight, she knew she had foolishly set herself up. She should have known that Harry wasn't a baby angel that she naively imagined him to be. He was a teenager and all that entailed – meaning he was very interested, if not obsessed, in sex.

And Harry being Harry had probably felt the need to thoroughly study the subject.

From what James had confessed to her later, Sirius was absolutely right. Couple of minutes into the conversation, Harry had taken a long hard look at the blushing James Potter and Remus Lupin and interrupted their attempts at giving him the sausage and doughnut speech.

He had then proceeded to give them, in his dry voice, a detailed lecture about sex from start till end. Then he had ventured into some topics that even James had never heard of – speaking about positions, practices and sexual magic that he never knew.

Lily had heard of magic that used sex as a medium but not even she knew much about it.

She didn't know if she should be proud about Harry's knowledge or be angry at him for studying forbidden knowledge like Sexual magic.

Right now, Lily was searching for Harry. She felt it was time she had the talk she wanted to have with him. About girlfriends.

Or more specifically, one girl – Fleur Delacour.

Lily had a feeling that Harry wouldn't be pleased with her choosing a girl for him but he would understand once he got to know the girl. Which teenage boy wouldn't to date a veela? Besides, Lily wasn't foolish enough to blatantly ask him to date one of her students. She would ease the conversation slowly about Harry having a girlfriend and then slowly steer it towards Fleur.

Sadly, Lily was a Gryffindor through and through and never saw the possibility that Harry could see through her act in a couple of minutes.

Lily frowned for a minute. Harry was not anywhere she thought he would be.

Potter Manor was only a manor in name. It was a Victorian style two story house with eight bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining Hall and a study which doubled up as a library. The Manor was not lavish like the Malfoy Manor nor was it gloomy like the Lestrange Manor. It was plain and simple – a home for a loving family.

So far Lily had searched all the rooms and Harry wasn't anywhere. She knew Harry was home because he had said he didn't have anything planned for the day except a couple of summer assignments that he was hoping to finish.

Hearing sounds coming from the backyard, Lily walked outside hoping to find her wayward son there but she froze at the sight that greeted her.

James, Sirius and Remus were cheering on Harry as he lay on a bench lifting a barbell. From the size of the weights that hung on each side, Lily absently guessed that her son was exercising by lifting close to eighty kilo dead-weight.

She could hear Sirius shout '_Come on, Harry. Just five more and you're done. Come on_'

She approached them as silently as she could. The bench, barbells, weight-plates and dumbbells that she could see lying around had been bought by James years ago but he had never used it.

And from the way, Harry was lifting them effortlessly, he had practice beforehand.

She waited

Once Harry was done, amidst the cheers from the marauders, she stalked up to them, anger evident on her face.

"What is going on here?" The words came out from Lily's mouth like a hiss. The moment she had seen her baby boy playing with all the dangerous equipment, with the marauders egging him on, her heart had stopped for a moment. But she had used all her restraint not to yell and startle her while her baby was lifting those _weights_.

The three marauders and Harry turned to look at Lily before James froze and paled at the look on his wife's face.

"James Tiberius Potter! What have I told you about having that… that _stuff? _Didn't I ask you to get rid of it? _Did I not?"_

"Now, now, Lily flower" James tried to placate his wife but she didn't give him a chance.

"What would you have done if Harry wasn't able to hold on to it anymore? What if it had slipped from his hand while he was lifting it? What would you have done if he had broken his neck or something? _And you are cheering him on as if you are proud of what he was doing_? How dare you?"

"Lily, honey, calm down. Harry is not a small boy, he is taller than all of us. He can take care of himself. Besides, do you think Sirius, Remus and I would just watch him being crushed by that weight? If he appeared like struggling, then we would have helped him immediately"

"That's not the point, James. You were not supposed to allow him to do this dangerous thing in the first place" She swatted him on the arm, "First, you allow our children to fly on enchanted sticks for fun and now you allow my boy to play with dangerous equipment"

Without allowing him to reply, she rounded on Harry who was watching James with a lazy smile on his face.

"And you! Are you stupid? What were you doing, indulging these immature berks with a hotheaded stunt like that?"

Harry rolled his eyes at his mother's over-the-top reaction. "Jeez, mum, I was just working out!"

"Working out? _Working out?_ Why can't you workout with something that is not dangerous and life-threatening? Like jogging?"

Harry looked at Lily as if she was crazy, "It's not as if I'm the only person in this whole world that uses bench-press. Besides, I do this thrice a week. My coach will kill me if I don't keep up my work-out schedule"

"What coach?" Lily asked in a dangerous tone.

"My quidditch team coach, of course" Harry replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Your father never did anything like that when he used to play! Besides you are too young to work-out using weights" Lily stated with a frown on her face.

Harry had a superior smirk on his face as he replied, "That's amateur quidditch. School-boy stuff. I'm a professional quidditch player. We have a specific training routine. It's not like we can simply play a game of fetch every weekend and call that practice like dad used to do."

James had an annoyed on his face at Harry's reply but wisely kept his tongue so that he didn't give his wife another reason to shout at him.

Lily shook her head, "We are having a discussion about the things you do under the name of quidditch later. A much lengthier and detailed one where you tell me exactly what you do, where you do and with whom. Alright?"

Harry nodded his head.

"Sure"

Lily sighed. "You need a girlfriend, honey" she told him softly, "You don't listen to me anymore. Perhaps you will listen to your girlfriend when you get one. You won't forget your good old mum when you get a girlfriend, would you?"

Harry hummed slightly and nodded absently as if saying _Let's see._

Lily expected her son to respond to her statement but he looked as if he was actively avoiding her. Seeing that he was not answering her, Lily continued, "You have plans to get a girlfriend, don't you?"

Harry blinked at his mother. Where had that come from? Looking around, he could see that the three marauders were making it no secret that they were latching on to every word spoken between mother and son.

"Gee, mum, where do you think I'm gonna get a girlfriend from? If you didn't know I'm obligated to tell you that Durmstrang is a boys-only school and I have no gay tendencies"

Lily swatted her son on the arm playfully but continued, knowing that this was the opening she was waiting for.

"Well, you could always find one here. You can try to have a long-time relationship"

Harry didn't know how to respond. He had never expected to ask such questions from his mother. Honestly, he had expected his immature father and his equally immature friends to question him about girls.

"Why are you suddenly so concerned about me getting a girlfriend?" Harry's eyes narrowed as he glared at his mother.

_Well, damn_ thought Lily_ He is onto me before I even start the conversation._ Thinking quickly, she replied, "Well… We miss you every year at Christmas and Easter. I figured if you have a girlfriend here, then you would come home during those holidays to at least see her, if not us. We miss you terribly, honey"

Harry's eyes narrowed, "You spend your Christmases and Easters at Beauxbatons _in France_, how would me having a girlfriend here, let you see me during the holidays?"

Lily smirked inwardly at how easily Harry was falling into her carefully spun web and made a show of thinking hard.

"Well, you could always try to find a girl in Beauxbatons if you try to come there for Christmas!" she said brightly.

Harry's well-honed senses started ringing alarm-bells at his mother's tone even as the three marauders tried hard not to palm their faces. It was clear why Lily was a Gryffindor. For being a really intelligent witch, she had no sense of cunning.

"Nah… I don't think teenage French witches are my thing."

Sirius knew he had to intervene if he didn't want things to worsen even more. Lily talking about such things were weird and he knew Harry would figure out what Lily was up to in the next five minutes. Sirius thought for a second '_Do I want to manipulate Harry to make him date that Delacour girl_' After a moment, '_Yes_', he decided, '_the girl is perfect for Harry. Besides_', he grinned evilly, _'Let him get stuck with that girl. If anyone can tame Harry, it'd be that girl.'_

Praying that Harry would never figure out his true intentions, Sirius added with a smirk of his own, "Not even Veela. There are quite a few teen veela at Beauxbatons."

Harry turned to look at his godfather in confusion. Something fishy was going on, if Sirius' grin meant anything. He decided to play it cool.

"Padfoot, you know me. I have spent years around a bunch of beautiful and wiling veela. Do you really think I would go behind a teenage girl with no experience?"

A scream of 'what' was followed by a good ten minute typical Lily Evans Potter rant aimed at her husband, Sirius, James, Harry, Remus and James about how James, Sirius and their quidditch had made their son talk like that.

After his mother had calmed down a bit, Harry quipped, "Besides, I've always had a thing for a Vampire princess, you know – the whole gothic outfit, pale skin, chokers and ruby lips"

Lily was aware that Harry was riling her up but couldn't help glaring at her son. _Honestly a vampire princess? Where was this boy getting his ideas from?_

Remus was unaware of the whole meddling going on behind so he made an innocent comment, "I bet you no matter what you go after, you will end up with a red-head. It's in your blood. You Potter men always go for red-heads."

Lily couldn't control the panic that popped up at Remus' comment. Fleur was blonde. Would her son really go after a red-head like his father and grandfather? Not that Lily minded but she had already envisioned Harry marrying Fleur that it was hard to let go of the idea. She really wanted her favourite student and her best friend's daughter to be an official part of the family.

But she was utterly unprepared for Harry's outburst.

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN! HOW COULD YOU?"

Remus was bewildered at the bellow from Harry that he actually stumbled back.

"What? What did I do?"

"YOU! YOU RASCIST!"

"WHAT? I AM NOT A RACIST!"

"You just made a comment about red-heads!"

Remus had a blank look on his face while Sirius was trying to work out what Harry was implying.

"Er.. Harry? I think the term racist is a bit too much. I mean he was just commenting about hair color. Nothing else"

"HA! Color of the hair. Color of the skin. Does it matter? Besides, I even observed how you subtly made references to English and French witches. As if you don't want me to interact with girls from other countries. All of you are subtly encouraging racism"

"Er… sorry?"

Harry shook his head. "It's no use. It's all ingrained in your very systems that you don't even know that you are doing it. That's why I have a foolproof plan to promote world unity and demolish racism."

"What is it?" Lily asked wary of the answer.

"I am going to form a harem" Harry replied proudly, "I am going to have all forms of women in there. It will have a woman representative from every country, every race, every ethnicity. There will be witches, muggles, squibs, veela, werewolves & vampires. It has been my childhood dream to create a harem and I will do it in the name of world unity. I will show the world that the entire world is equal by happily maintaining my harem of thousands of women"

Cries of 'THAT'S MY BOY' 'AWESOME & 'GO HARRY' were cut short by an irate red-headed witch who started flinging stinging curses at the four wizards.


	11. Cake, bunnies and tea

**THE KING**

**BY**

**SERAPH ORION BLACK**

**Author Notes: **A quick word before you start this chapter.

First of all, sorry for the massive delay in updating. It's been more than seven or eight months since I last updated.

From the reviews I'm happy to know that all of you enjoyed my last chapter. It's good to know. But I think most of you didn't understand what I was trying to say from the last chapter. It might've seemed like a hollow filler chapter. But I was actually trying to express that Harry isn't a total anomaly – he acts like a normal teenager. I included that chapter to show that the Harry in my story is completely different from the Harry in Knowledge is Power.

In the earlier chapters, Harry appears as a very mature boy – even at the age of eleven. I'm not exactly happy with that since that is not normal eleven-year old behaviour but it was essential for the plot of the story. Besides, I believe I made it appear _somewhat_ believable – he mostly listens to Sirius and follows his lead rather than come up with unbelievable stuff on his own.

It is my opinion that boys have a maturity in their pre-teen years that is lost to hormones when they suddenly discover the wonders of girls and snog-sessions. I might be completely wrong and most of you might think I'm bonkers for saying this but I am writing what I think is right. Sometimes a boy is more mature at twelve than he is at fifteen and swimming in testosterone.

Anyways, Harry's character is based on my theory. He is very serious about his studies and other stuff but he is sixteen and girls and sex become a fascination to him like every other teenager – a normal teenager.

As the story progresses, he will mature, acting in age-appropriate manner but girls will always be a top priority for him.

**Chapter 11**

**Let me go!**

**July 31, 1993**

**Potter manor**

Lily Potter couldn't be any happier. It was Alex's birthday. Her baby boy had turned thirteen today. He had asked to spend a part of the vacation with the family of his friend Ron Weasley as he had done the previous summer but Lily would have none of it. She didn't get to spend much time with her family and she wasn't going to waste any day especially her baby boy's birthday.

She had cooked up a storm – all of Alex's favourite dishes and an enormous cake. She had even made sure Harry wasn't out gallivanting with his childish godfather and miss out on one of the important days of the summer.

She had just finished up arranging the dishes on the table and was just calling for the rest of the children to come down for the dinner when the fireplace turned green and the three marauders walked in to the living room bearing gifts for the birthday boy.

"Hmm… Smells heavenly, sweetheart", James called out as he entered the dining room. As soon as he spotted her, he twirled her into his arms kissed her gently on her lips.

Lily smiled at the kiss and was about to say something when she was interrupted by a voice saying, "Eww… Will you please stop that? If you two end up having anymore kids, I'm gonna have trouble remembering all the names"

She turned around to glare at her eldest standing at the doorway while the rest of the children walked into the room to greet their father and his two friends.

"Harry!", Lily scolded while her cheeks were turning pink, "Watch what you are saying, young man. Besides, I have a right to kiss your father. He is my husband and I'm his wife. A simple kiss doesn't mean you are gonna have anymore siblings." Realising what she was saying by the awkward glances between the other kids, she blushed even more.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what you said on my third birthday and you had Alex ten months later. You said something similar on my fourth birthday and you had the twins next year. Oh yeah, you also said something similar on Andrew's fifth birthday and you had Catnip here. So, pardon me if I'm a little sceptic"

Sirius, Remus and even James roared out in laughter as Lily reached up and smacked the back of Harry's head while her face was beet-red. Immediately she turned around and glared at her husband whose laughter abruptly died at the glare.

"I really have to blame you, Black, for taking my innocent baby and turning him into… into… well this", she said pointing out at Harry who was showing a lot of interest at the chocolate cake and ignoring everyone else in the room.

As per the Marauder tradition, as James and Sirius insisted, the birthday boy opened the gifts before dinner and the cake. Lily didn't have the strength to argue with Sirius that presents have to be opened after the birthday candle was blown like she was used to.

Alex smiled as he looked at the presents he had received for his birthday – new winter cloak from his mother, a new watch from his father, pranking material including dungbombs from his godfather Sirius which earned an exasperated sigh from his mother, a book on curses from Remus, new knee pads for quidditch from his siblings, a sneakoscope from Ron and a broom polishing kit from Hermione which earned a wolf-whistle from both Harry and Sirius.

As he thanked everyone for the gifts, Harry stood up with a huge wrapped parcel in his hands and thrust it into his hands. "Here ye go, four-eyes"

The expected cry of _Harry_ came from his mother for the nickname but was ignored as everyone leaned in to see what he had gotten his brother.

Alex smiled and mumbled his thanks as he tore apart the wrappings, eager to see what his older brother had gotten him. He along with the rest of the family simply gawked at the brand new guitar while Harry looked smug.

"You have to admit that it's the coolest gift you've ever received"

Alex stammered his thanks not knowing how to respond.

Remus, however, asked the question in everyone's minds. "Do you know how to play the guitar, Alex"

"No, I don't"

This brought the spirits of the three marauders down a little bit.

"Here, I'll show you. Give it to me", Harry asked taking the guitar from his brother's hands.

Harry pulled his chair back from the table as everyone else rearranged themselves so that they could watch what he could do.

Harry closed his eyes for a long minute, strumming the chords randomly and adjusting the tension before he started strumming a simple but beautiful tune. James, Sirius and Remus were struck dumb by the expertise with which he was playing the instrument wondering where he had learnt that while a few tears escaped from Lily's eyes as her son played a soulful tune that struck a chord in her heart.

As Harry stopped playing the tune, he kept his eyes closed as if he was still savouring the tune in his mind. After a few seconds, they all exploded into applause as little Cassie jumped into Harry's reluctant arms and smothered him in kisses.

"That was beautiful", Lily said as she wiped the stray tears from her eyes, "Where did you learn to play the guitar so beautifully, Harry?"

Harry's beaming smile prompted Sirius to dissolve into badly disguised snickers as he realised a true Harry Potter moment. It did result him getting swatted on his head by Lily, Rosalyn and Evelyn.

"I don't know"

"You don't know when you learnt to play the guitar?", asked a confused Rosalyn who was impressed with her least favourite brother's talents.

"No, I meant I don't know how to play a guitar"

This confused all the people in the room as they had just witnessed him play a beautiful tune right in front of their eyes.

"But you just did", said an obviously confused Remus.

"It's alright, Remus. I know you of all people wouldn't understand. However, it all rests with the reason I gifted this to four-eyes over there. You see this is not a mere present. This is the passing of a torch, handing down a legacy, beseeching him to follow my glory and bring pride and joy to me"

Ignoring the questioning looks on his siblings' faces and the look of wary on his mother's face, Harry moved to stand in front of his brother grasping him by the shoulders and pulling him to his feet roughly.

"Alexander Charles Potter, this is one of the most important days of your life. Do you know why?"

Alex scratched the back of his head as he asked, "Because this is my birthday?"

Harry nodded but continued, "This day marks the start of a new era. The day where you enter the most important phase of your life. Teenage"

"Ooookay"

"No, no. You still don't understand. By becoming a teenager you are embarking on one of the most important… shall we say quest? This Guitar is simply not a guitar. It is the first weapon that will aid you in this endeavour."

A confused Alex had to ask, "Uh… what are you talking about?"

"Girls, my boy, girls"

Seeing where the conversation was headed, Alex started to blush not stopping until he was beet-red while the three marauders watched with wicked smirks on their faces.

Not caring about the spectators, Harry continued, "I've been observing you for the past two years and one thing I've found most disturbing is that in a school full of age-appropriate teenage girls, you are on friendly terms with only one. That is a flaw that I simply cannot, in good conscience as your brother, allow to continue. And seeing as you are not awesome like me when it comes to pulling birds without assistance, I've spent countless hours creating this masterpiece of my awesome enchanting skills."

Unbridled by the scowl on the faces of the women in the room, Harry continued, "I thought long and hard about how to bring out the womaniser out of this shy, meek exterior of yours before I came to a startling conclusion. Why should I try to change the image you built for yourself? Why not use it as an advantage? Afterall, women go bat-shit crazy about the whole shy and lonely hero angle. So, to give them a push towards swarming you like flies on horse-shit, I built this guitar. No girl can resist a guy who can play a guitar. Guitars are awesome like that."

"And to make sure you do not make a fool of yourself by fumbling around not being to play this awesome instrument of bird-pulling, I enchanted this little beauty to have some pre-recorded tunes in it."

Harry finished with a flourish as if he was presenting the royal jewels to awestruck tourists. Noting the looks of distastes and scowls on the faces of the women around him, he asked, "What?"

It was Evelyn who answered, "Putting aside the fact that you have successfully insulted our gender and offend us, girls, how does this guitar works?"

"Well, that's where my brilliance comes into play. You see there are six chords in a guitar. So I've enchanted it so that a particular song will play when you touch a string first. For example, when I played, I touched the c-chord first. The guitar automatically plays. All you've gotta do is pretend that it's you playing and act as if you are enjoying the dreadfully depressing tune. I admit, four-eyes has to put a lot of effort into his acting but hey you can't have everything handed to you. Practice. Practice is the key to all successful con."

If Harry was expecting any applause for his passionate speech, he didn't receive any. However, his mother was intrigued by the guitar itself.

"Putting aside the fact that you are admitting to be a con-man, how did you enchant this? As far as I know enchanting is a hard branch of magic and this seems to be perfect and I can't see any runes scribed on it"

Seeing the curious looks on the faces of his family, a smug smile made it's way onto Harry's face. "Oh, please. This is not that hard, for me at-least. Can't say the same for the rest of you simpletons. Besides this is not one of my most impressive talents in magic. Would you like to see some more?"

Evelyn and Rosalyn looked like they would be better off doing something else, like eating the delicious-looking cake, but had to put on an eager face reluctantly for the sake of their mother. Not that they hated Harry or anything but his bragging could sometimes grate on people's nerves badly.

Not waiting for a response, Harry pulled away from the table and bowed to the audience before whipping off the auror hat from the head of his godfather whose cry was largely ignored.

"Ladies and gentleman, behold the greatest feat your eyes could feast upon this fair land. A plain hat, in my hand, if you would notice. Nothing to hide except for the nasty dandruff from the auror's head. You should think about shampooing your hair regularly, Sirius"

Ignoring a sputter of indignation from his godfather, Harry proceeded the show the hat to his captive audience with a stage-performer's showmanship even passing it around for people to inspect it.

"Now, can I have that nasty hat back please? Thank you. As you can see, nothing to hide. Now what would you say if I told you that Sirius hides more than his dirty dandruff in this hat? No replies? Watch!"

Holding the plum-red hat in his right-hand, Harry waved his hands on top of it, twirling his fingers randomly and muttering nonsense under his breath. Suddenly, he plunged his hands into the hands and pulled out a fluffy white rabbit out of it.

The kids were not impressed, having watched this trick once when their mother took them to the local county fair but the interests of the adults were peaking as they were wondering how he had pulled this trick.

Little Cassie however was concentrating on something else entirely. Squealing loudly, she lunged at Harry and carefully took the cutest, fluffiest baby rabbit she had ever seen and started snuggling and cooing to the clearly terrified animal.

After a moment of silence, all three marauders started demanding answers from Harry ranging from what magic was used from Remus and how bad the dandruff was from Sirius.

"Enough!" All three marauders stopped abruptly knowing that Lily was there and she never liked it being interrupted especially when she was eager to learn something.

Satisfied that none of them were going to interrupt them, Lily turned to Harry and asked, "That was wonderful, sweetheart, but how did you do it? Did you disillusion your wand? Or perhaps you enchanted Sirius' hat before? Or did you simply switch his hat when we were not looking?"

Sighing in exasperation, Harry replied, "Oh ye of little faith. Here I am showing you the greatest magic anyone has ever seen and you immediately think I've conned you"

Pulling his wand from his pocket, he handed it over to his mother and the hat as well. "Here you go, my wand and the hat. Check for yourself for any and all enchantments on it And I will pull my sleeves to prove that I am not hiding any rabbits in my sleeves"

As Lily's charms came out negative for any magic on the hat, Harry snatched it out of her hands and suddenly pulled out another white rabbit out of it, thrust it into his mother's hands and proceeded to load his plate with the chocolate cake.

By now, his siblings had realised that this was not a trick that they had seen the street performer had done but genuine magic. As Harry started to devour the cake, one thought dominated everyone's mind. Wandless magic was not possible, was it?

**August 1993**

**London**

Doctor Sarah West watched with frustration as Sirius Black paced her study mumbling to himself, irritating her endlessly in the process. Being a psychologist, Sarah had an abundance of patience. However, no one in her adult life had ever managed to frustrate her in ways that Sirius did.

When he had first come to her nearly ten years ago after their failed attempt at a relationship, she was ready to castrate him. He had ruined their budding relationship by cheating on her with her receptionist. It had taken a lot convincing on Sirius' part to even get her to listen and not bang the door on his face as she wanted.

She wanted to say no to whatever he saidbut the desperation and helplessness in face made her wait and hear him out. The more she heard about Harry Potter and his behaviour, the more she was interested in him and the case.

Throughout her career, she had observed some strange behaviour from children – after all that was what her profession was all about. She had seen children being disturbed due to domestic abuse, bad parenting and even abandonment. However, no child had ever managed to garner her attention like Harry Potter did. She still remembered the first time she met Harry. He was shy and quiet yet curious and inquisitive. His green eyes would light up every time she taught him something new. Sarah saw this the first time when Harry spotted chess set in her office and pestered her to teach him.

Over the years, Harry had been a regular visitor to her office and every time she would try to teach him something new – whether it was a game of darts or piano or French. Sarah slowly started to look forward to Harry's visits and made the effort to go out and learn something new herself so that she had something new to show when Harry turned up for his visit.

She had seen Harry grow up from the shy boy to a bright and confident young man which made her proud, though she wanted to thrash him and his wayward godfather whenever they tried to _charm_ her receptionist or her visitors. However, those visits have always been friendly and usually preceded an outing to lunch or some ice-cream rather than professional visit.

Which led her to having a very serious conversation with Sirius.

"Sirius, I don't care what you think. I need to see Harry and have a series of sessions with him to figure out if he has any anti-social behaviour. You have not allowed me to have a session with him in over nine years."

"But, you see him often. I bring him over every summer when he gets home. Why can't you simply observe him at that time and do whatever you want during that time – without letting Harry know, of course."

"Sirius, you idiot! Half an hour in a bloody coffee shop is not enough to make observations about his mental status and the emotional responses to various stimuli. I'm not Houdini! I can't make pigs fly!"

"But I can-"

"I don't care what you can do! This is not like I can do some random test and find out if he is sick. It's a slow process."

"Surely, you can think of something."

Sarah wanted to rip her hair off. Nobody could ever frustrate her like Sirius did. "Why don't you want Harry to attend these sessions? He is old enough and mature enough to know what these sessions are all about, if that's what you are worried about."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair not knowing how to explain to the stubborn woman in front of him what he meant. He knew his godson and wasn't worried about how he'd react to be asked to sit with a psychiatrist.

"No, Sarah. That's not what I meant. Yes, I'm sure Harry is mature enough to understand. It's just…"

"Just what, Sirius?" Sarah snapped, "Are you afraid that Harry might not be normal?"

Sirius didn't reply as he turned away from her, not wanting to face her. However, Sarah construed the action as him confirming her theory.

"Oh my god, you are, aren't you? You are afraid that Harry might not be as normal as you expected. You filthy hypocrite, when you first brought him to me you said you'd do anything for the boy. Now, at the smallest possibility of him being disturbed you are shying away."

"**ENOUGH"**

Sarah stopped at the sudden snapping tone of Sirius. When he turned to face her, his expression had completely changed. Gone was the fun-loving Sirius. Eyes red, nostrils flared and flushed red, this Sirius was the embodiment of rage.

"You are right. I'm afraid that Harry is not normal. Do you think that I'm an idiot? Or a fool? It's clear from the way he acts. His unhealthy obsession of being the best in everything? His superhuman work ethics? His utter disregard for rules or authority? I admit when I first spotted these I thought he was the perfect combination of a cocky young rule-breaker James Potter and bookworm Lily Evans"

Sirius stepped away from her looking out of the window at the busy London street below. He continued without turning back. "But as I got closer and closer to him, I learn more about him that scares me. His obsession towards learning scares me. All his teachers rave about how he is a genius. How he is a once in a lifetime student. A prodigy. A natural."

Sirius turned back to face Sarah. She was startled to see tears running down his cheeks. "But he is not. Harry James Potter is not a natural magical prodigy. He is just another boy, granted with a brilliant mind but nothing extraordinary"

This was information to Sarah. "But you have told a million times that he is a child-genius and that all his professors agree with you."

Sirius nodded solemnly. "I have told you he is extraordinary not because of his natural intelligence but because of how he works. His professors agree that he is a prodigy when they see the results of his works. But what they don't see is the insane amount of effort he puts into keeping it that way. He anticipates what they are going to learn in class and works ahead. He works harder than any other boy his age – working day and night to keep himself head and shoulders above his classmates. But he is so far ahead of his peers that he has started acquiring knowledge that is above normal school-level education. Sometimes he is almost pschychotic in his work that it scares me."

"So he is not a natural genius and all that he does is due to hard labour? That sometimes looks unnatural"

Sirius nodded. "Yes. I remember this one time you tried to teach him French when he was eleven. He got a beginners guide to French and spent the entire night reading it and practising so that when he came to see you the next evening, he could dazzle you with his French"

This made Sarah much angrier and she exploded, "You dumb idiot. Do you know what you have done? I am his psychiatrist. You should have told me about this when you first spotted this behaviour. What was the point in bringing him to me if you were going to keep all this away from me?"

"I don't know, alright. I don't know" Sirius replied miserably, "I was afraid. Not because I thought he was not normal but because of what it meant for his life."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked with narrowed eyes.

Sirius ran a hand through his shoulder length hair as he looked at her with desperation. "You know how the wizarding world works, Sarah. I don't think I need to explain that to you. Under the flimsy blanket of equality, the government is still controlled by old pureblood families."

"Yes" Sarah agreed, "But what does that have to do with Harry?"

"Well, you know when Lord Voldemort was at the peak of his power he had a lot of followers – pureblood who thought siding with him would bring the society to its glory where they would openly control the world we live in"

Sarah was getting more and more impatient. "I don't understand where you are going with this, Sirius"

Sirius held his palm to pacify her, "Just give me a minute, I will explain." Seeing Sarah nod he continued, "During the war, Voldemort had nearly eighty death eaters under his command. Some of them were killed in battles with the aurors, some were captured and the rest got away – either buying their freedom or striking deals with the Ministry, when Lord Voldemort was defeated on that Halloween night. Either way, the Potter family made a lot of enemies that night – from families of the death eaters or the purebloods who were indirectly supporting Voldemort"

Sarah nodded. She knew what Sirius meant. Several pureblood families, including her own had been hoping for Lord Voldemort to win the war so that they would gain the power to do as they wished – things that were not possible with the current Ministry in power. Sarah knew that if Voldemort had indeed conquered over the Ministry, she, as a squib born to a pureblood family, would have been hunted and killed for bringing disgrace to her family name by having no magic.

"The problem for the Potters is that they are not an old, wealthy pureblood family. Their modest family fortune would have been considerable if they had not had so many children. But, with their money being split six ways between Harry and his siblings, they can only be considered a normal upper middle-class family. The only advantage they have is the popularity that Alexander Potter got as the boy-who-lived. The public support for their boy-hero and the Potters' association with Albus Dumbledore are the reasons that the ruling-class pureblood families have not tried to attack them directly."

"You mean to say that there have been attempts?" Sarah asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Yes", Sirius nodded emphatically, "There have been few attempts to discreet attempts at discrediting the Potter family over the years – newspaper articles accusing James and Lily of practising and teaching dark magic to their kids, favouritism by the Ministry when they promoted James. But those articles were always disregarded and never caught-on."

"So?"

"The problem the pureblood fanatics have is that they don't have anything to discredit the Potter family until now. James and Lily have a clean reputation among their peers and the children are too young to be accused of anything. But, if anyone ever found out that Harry Potter, the heir-apparent of the Potter family and the elder brother of the boy-who-lived is not normal and has been seeing a muggle psychiatrist then they would try and use it against their family."

"Surely they cannot use this against them. Harry is not sick. He just has some issues that he needs some help for. Besides, you yourself said that Albus Dumbledore is supporting that family. Surely he would not allow the ruling purebloods to take advantage of Harry's situation"

"Have you forgotten where you come from, _Hesperia Nott? _Or has changing your name to Sarah West has actually made you forget what our kind is capable of?"

Hearing her birth name from the lips of Sirius, made Sarah flinch. She knew the reason her parents had thrown her out of the family. If anyone had found out that the daughter of the respected Nott family was a squib, their family would have lost its influence. Rival pureblood clans would have used that titbit of information to disgrace their family in public not caring that they were hurting an innocent eleven year old girl in the process.

Seeing a flash of pain and understanding pass through her face, Sirius had a small pang of regret for digging up her past. But seeing it was his godson's welfare at stake, he wouldn't mind doing it again. So, he continued as if he didn't notice her pained expression, "As for Albus Dumbledore, somehow I don't believe even he can make this issue disappear. He is just one man against a horde of rabid hounds trying to destroy the Potters standing in the wizarding world. They will portray Harry as mentally unstable, deranged teenager and campaign for the boy-who-lived to be removed from imminent danger that resides in the same house. The public will eat that up."

Recognition appeared on Sarah's face along with a tiny bit of respect for the insightfulness that Sirius was showing. Something that she never thought the man in front of her ever had.

Sirius however soldiered on, "Besides, even if Dumbledore were to rise to the occasion and defend the honour of Harry and the Potters, how do you think, as Harry's psychiatrist, such an event would affect Harry?"

Sarah sat at her desk staring at it while lost in thought. Such negative reinforcement fuelled by a smear campaign would only make Harry's situation whatever it was, worse. Now that she didn't know what Harry's mental condition actually was, she dreaded what such an event would bring forth.

After five minutes of contemplation, Sarah looked up, "How did you figure all this out? I didn't think you were capable of such deep thought"

If Sirius was offended by her remark he didn't show it. Instead he replied with a look of contemplation gracing his features, "I don't know. It didn't jump out to me, of course, but ever since harry lost his grandparents, I've felt this… this need to take care of him. That kid was so used to his grandparents' love and affection that I simply couldn't bear the thought of leaving him alone. So, I entertained him, took him out, followed your advice and even taught him magic when he asked for it. I simply couldn't say no to him."

"But, it was the start of his schooling that reinforced some lingering doubts. When Dumbledore revealed that Harry could not be enrolled in Hogwarts, I knew something was wrong about this whole situation."

Sarah's eyes widened at Sirius' declaration. "You mean to tell me that Dumbledore knows about Harry's condition?"

Sirius chuckled at the question. "Sarah, that man seems to know everything. I do not know if this was the reason he tried to get Harry out of Hogwarts and out of public exposure but this is the only logical explanation that jumped out at me"

"Have you discussed with Harry about this?"

Immediately Sirius had trouble looking at Sarah. She nodded to herself – he had not. Still she persisted, "You have not. But since you have this guilty expression in your face, I'm assuming that you've somehow lied to him"

"How can I tell him… an innocent teenager… not even that – he was an eleven year old kid at that time… that he could be used by our society as a weapon to disgrace his family name. So, no, I didn't tell him. But that didn't mean I kept it to myself. I've taken your advice and seen how I could educate him to be a normal teenager."

Looking at her, Sirius continued, "Sarah, I swear that was the main reason I taught him all about quidditch, girls and flirting. It was my desperate attempt to lure him out of his books and magic. I wanted to show him that there was a world beyond knowledge and magic. That there was a life beyond books. That was why I encouraged him to make more friends. So now, unless you pried deep into his mind, he is a typical teenager – a brilliant one, but a normal one none the less."

Sarah merely nodded not giving any indication that she believed him or anything. She merely said, "Now tell me everything about Harry.

**Later that evening**

Sirius returned to the home of his cousin Andromeda Tonks after a gruelling day at the psychiatrist's office. Of course, he hadn't told anyone that. He had merely told them that he was going out on a date. Sirius immediately noticed that the house was too quiet considering that Harry and Tonks were in the house. There was always a lot of noise in the house if the two were together – either making some mischief and getting yelled at by Andromeda or fighting and getting yelled at by Andromeda.

Hearing a shriek and a splash from the yard, Sirius smiled and walked to the backdoor only to see Andromeda leaning against the door and watching with a small smile tugging at her lips. Piqued by curiosity, Sirius looked out of the kitchen window to see his young cousin chasing Harry around the small pond near the house. Judging by the state of her hair and her clothes, it was safe to guess that Harry had dunked her into the water. He laughed when Harry stumbled on a stone and Tonks tackled him to the ground with a furious roar and proceeded to give him a world-class noogie.

Sirius's laugh startled Andromeda as she turned with the smile not leaving her lips.

"What did Harry do this time?", Sirius asked.

"Nymphadora got into auror academy, Sirius. She got the owl an hour ago and Harry has been harassing her since then"

Sirius felt happiness and pride swell when he heard that. He had been the one who encouraged her when she stated that she was going to be an auror. His instincts told him to go out and help his godson throw her into the pond once again but the events of the afternoon were still fresh in his mind.

Andromeda moved into the kitchen to make tea for herself and Sirius when she realised that he hadn't yelled and run after her daughter cackling like a madman as he'd usually do. Turning back she saw him standing at the window with a pensieve expression staring at the scene outside while his thoughts were a million miles away.

"Are you alright, Sirius?" Andromeda asked, concerned with his behaviour.

Sirius snapped to attention at the sound of her voice and turned to look at Andromeda with anxiety. "Andy, do you think I'm doing alright with Harry?"

Seeing her confusion at his odd question, he elaborated, "I mean, am I a good influence on him? I know I'm only his godfather but he hangs around me more than his own father. Do you think I have raised him good?"

Normally, Andromeda would've taken a poke at her cousin about being a good influence. But seeing the uneasiness in his expression, she placed the kettle on the kitchen counter and grabbed him by the shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Sirius, why are you having such doubts? You are amazing with Harry. And that kid has been a good influence on you too. I've noticed you acting more mature ever since that kid came into your life."

Seeing him make a face at the word _mature_, she chuckled and continued, "I mean you are still goofy, fun-loving troublemaker but you are concerned about him and his welfare. And Harry is an amazing kid. Sure, he is rough around the edges but who isn't? I know beneath all the jokes and laughs, there is a wonderful boy"

Sirius smiled and accepted the tea from her.


End file.
